Mr Sunshine
by Mangascribbler
Summary: He was the kid who everyone avoided. The kid who would have been expelled for voilence if the teachers didn't fear death by his hand. The kid who never spoke, or laughed, or smiled. He was the one I would reach out to.
1. Chapter 1

**M.S.: Hello everyone~ Thank you for joining me tonight as I post my seventh story so far… For people who have previously read my work the schedule continues as usual. (Posts will be on Wednesdays and Saturdays) Anyways, I don't own Inuyasha characters, and blah blah blah, you get the point.**

**Sessh: Shut Ms. Author and let the people read your fricken' story already.**

**M.S.: You shut up or I'll kill your character~**

**Sessh: 0_o**

**M.S.: That's what I thought. **_**Now **_**you may read. Thank you! Oh, reviews appreciated, please no flames, thanx again!**

I Meet the Most Violent, Depressed, and Gorgeous Person Ever:

"Ahhhh!" I moaned loudly to myself, "I'm going to be late on my first day of school!" I scampered out the door, locking it behind me as I ran. The key got stuck and it took nearly five minutes to get out. Then I tripped down the apartment stairs, almost got hit by a car, had to help a tiny old man cross the street, had to wait for a _parade_ to cross the street… I won't say anymore. We'll just say I was _really _late.

Name's Rin Kobayashi. Orphaned at the age of six after my parent's murders, I've lived in several foster homes. I'm a senior now, starting at Shikon High after moving into my new, totally, one hundred percent self-owned apartment. And yes, my luck is always that bad.

I'm considered a bit strange by most simply for my habit of befriending the roughest, most unapproachable looking people at any school. I try to help them become more accepted, and usually it works.

I skidded to a stop in front of the school gates. They were still open, the bell had already rung. Not a person in sight. Great…

I sprinted through the halls at breakneck pace, sliding a bit on the tiles as I halted before room 5G. I gripped the handle, smoothed my skirt, and opened the door.

"-There should have been a new student today… maybe I got the date wrong? Oh!" The teacher cried, spotting me and looking me over with ice blue eyes. He was an eastern dog demon with a shock of pitch black hair and the crimson sun on his forehead showing clearly. He wasn't _old _(though with demon's one could never tell) but he was perhaps in his mid thirties.

"Sorry!" I panted, "I got stuck waiting for a parade to cross… and there was an old guy, and my keys got stuck and…" there was a bout of snickering around the room.

"Alright, alright, just tell us your name and then we'll find you a seat." He commanded, motioning to the center of the room. I scanned the students as I walked, noticing something. There was a square of empty and/or broken desks surrounding an individual who had a black hood pulled so low over his face all I could see were their flashing gold eyes. They must have been tall too, because even when slouched so low in his chair, he was taller than most of the people sitting upright. The corner of his desk seemed to be stained with blood, as if he had clubbed someone with it.

"Hey there everyone… I'm Rin Kobayashi, and I hope I can really fit in here." I announced, bowing. I received smiles from the crowd. The black hooded figure didn't move.

"All right Kobayashi… you'll have to sit… there." He pointed to a desk right beside the hooded boy. I was sure he was a boy now; no girl could be that tall or broad. A gasp came from the class.

"You can't do that Sensei, he'll kill her!"

"You know what Sesshomaru did to the last guy who sat there!"

"Yeah, his blood is still there! You know what happened!"

"He deserved what he got." Came the monotone reply from the hooded boy, apparently called Sesshomaru. Hm, the Killing Perfection. Odd name. "And you should all shut up. It pisses me off when you all talk at once like that."

Instant silence. I walked over and sat next him. I stuck out my right hand for a handshake, and he kept his arms folded tightly across his chest. I withdrew my hand.

"Murakami," the teacher called, apparently addressing my neighbor, "remove that hood please."

"I like my hood." He replied flatly.

"That wasn't a request. Remove that from your head at once."

"No." a note of menace crept into his voice now. Blatant refusal of teachers' orders? Hard core… those brilliant but emotionless golden eyes flashed dangerously, and the teacher pursed his lips. "My hood is going to stay where it is, and nothing you say is going to make it otherwise. Anyways, no one wants to looks at me. They all hate me. I can smell their fear and abhorrence to me."

"Fine!" the teacher snapped. I didn't miss the fact that his hand was trembling ever so slightly. "You will be assigned to help the new girl around school as punishment!"

"As previously stated, you can't make me do anything I don't want to."

The teacher turned away with a snort and began his lecture. For some reason I couldn't keep my eyes off the hooded stranger. I wondered what he looked like, why everyone feared him, and what the heck was up with the bloodstain on his desk.

The bell rang, and I began to follow him. He turned after a moment to stare at me. I could only really see his eyes glowing like hot coals out of the shadows in his hood, and his mouth.

"Why are you following me?" he asked with almost no change in tone; it was flat, cold in the extreme.

"Well, I don't know where to go. You were assigned to help me, so I'm following you." I replied cheerfully.

"Hn. I'm not good at helping people."

"Now you can practice!"

"You piss me off."

"Glad to hear it!"

"Please leave me alone." His voice changed a bit for once, now sounding a bit pleading, like he couldn't stand to be in another presence. "I really don't like people."

"Get used to it buster. You live on earth, so there are a _lot _of people." I shot back. He muttered something along the lines of, 'Damn wench, leave me the hell alone,' before walking to our next class. I kept a nonstop flow of random chatter going as we walked, just to make him extra-annoyed.

"Can I call you Sunshine?" I asked him out of the blue.

"No."

"Why not? It'd be funny… cause it makes no sense! Just in the like, hour that I've known you, I've come to the realization that you are more like a really dark pit with spikes at the bottom where the sun has never shone before, not like the sun at all."

"That's great. Please shut up." He said as he sat down at the next desk… amazingly, all the desks around him _here _were empty as well…. I sat next to him.

"Anyways," I continued, "I think you and I can be friends, you know?"

"I don't need friends." He growled lowly. I raised my eyebrows at him.

"Oh _really_. I think everyone needs a friend at some point." I asserted. He stood up sharply, surprising me. I caught a flash of red, not gold, from his eyes. The rest of the class watched in horror.

"Just leave me the hell alone!" I snarled, "I don't need you, or anyone else!" His hands were balled into fists at his sides, his pale fingers white at the knuckles. It struck me now how tall he was; I was only five foot two, and he looked to be somewhere from seven and a half feet to seven and two thirds. Really freakin' tall.

A girl came up behind me, and whispered in my ear.

"Back away slowly. This guy is an animal. If you make any sudden movements, he'll snap."

"I can _hear _you." Sesshomaru spat at her. "I'm not _stupid._"

"Leave Kagome alone you bastard." Growled a boy with long white hair and dog ears. "It's your fault that people see you like this." His hands clenched harder, and his claws sliced into his palm, making blood run down his fingers. I stood and placed a hand on his arm.

"Don't let them get to you, all right?" I asked softly. He was breathing heavily, but at my words, he looked away and slammed into his chair with a soft growl. I turned to Kagome.

"I appreciate the warning… but I'm his friend." I said to her. This earned me another snarl from my odd companion. The dog eared boy shrugged and exchanged glances with the girl.

"Can't say we didn't warn you." The boy said.

"But I'm surprised he listened to you." Finished the girl. The pair seemed very close. The teacher walked in, and seeing a ring of people around Sesshomaru and me, heaved a sigh. She was an elderly woman with an eye patch.

"Sesshomaru, are you causing trouble _again_?" She cried. "Every time I come in here…"

"I didn't do anything…. yet." Sesshomaru replied with a hard gaze. I noticed how nice his voice was. Deep, and rich, like silk or velvet. The teacher sighed again, and simply turned to write on the board.

"As many of you know, I'm Kaede Kimura, but you can all call me Kaede or Granny. I will be taking this class over for Mr. Sasaki because he will be in the hospital for quite some time…." There was muttering, and glares in Sesshomaru's direction.

"Anyway, we have a new student today… Miss, if you would stand up and tell us your name please?"

"Hi, I'm Rin Kobayashi…" I told everyone.

"Welcome, Ms. Kobayashi. We'll assign someone to help you around school until you get the hang of things." Kaede said with a soft smile.

"Oh, it's alright, I've got Sunshine here to help me out, right?" I asked cheerfully with a quick look at Sesshomaru.

"I told you not to call me that…" he muttered, shifting forward in his seat to lean his elbows on the desk. Kaede looked surprised.

"'Sunshine'? You mean Murakami there?"

"Yeah!" I trilled. "He seems very nice and doesn't seem to mind me following him around." More muttering in the room.

"If you're sure then…" Kaede said, turning back to the board and beginning her lecture on health. I tore a page out of my note book and scribbled down something before passing it to Sesshomaru.

_You really don't mind helping me, do you?_

_ No, not particularly… please don't call me Sunshine._

_ Aw, but that's the nickname I gave you! :(_

_ Then I'm going to call you A-cup. How's that?_

_ You're mean! :0_

So went our conversation for most of class. I was never called on because I was new, and everyone pretty much ignored Sesshomaru anyway, so it was fine.

Class after class went by in this manner, and I lost Sesshomaru for a bit at lunch only to find him sitting alone in a corner… with his hood still up.

School ended and Sesshomaru was gone faster than you could say his name… which was pretty long actually. Whatever. He disappeared.

It began to rain heavily as I left the school.

"Always be PREPARED!" I yelled triumphantly, popping open my travel umbrella. Laughing quietly to myself like the psycho I am, I walked out into the downpour, intent on getting home _mostly _dry.

I hummed quietly to myself and began to walk down an alley way shortcut of mine, to see a figure huddled on the ground in an overlarge black hoodie.

AHHHHH! A RAPIST! Oh wait… maybe not.

"U-um, excuse me, but-!"

"What do you-!" The person snarled angrily. "Oh, it's you, A-cup."

"Sunshine?" I gaped. "You looked pretty suspicious sitting here all alone." Sesshomaru stood up with a shrug.

"Not like I have anywhere _else _to go…" There was a creak from above his head. He glanced up only to meet a face full of water when the shingle above his head broke. "Gah!" He cried in surprise. "Dammit…." He sighed, pushing the sopping hood off his face. I gasped. He could have been an angle… except for his attitude, which I guess is why he's a _demon_.

Silver bangs hung in brilliant gold eyes that were underscored by magenta stripes that adorned each cheek. A midnight blue moon crested his forehead, nearly hidden by the streams of soaked silver.

"Uh… Um… Do you wanna use my umbrella?" I asked tentatively.

"No."

"Do ya wanna dry off?"

"Not really."

"Do you want to go _home_?"

"Don't be ridiculous." He responded flatly, turning away. "You should go home before you catch a cold, A-cup." He walked away and disappeared into the gentle rain.

"You're one to talk…" I muttered, going in the opposite direction. And so began a rather one-sided friendship between me and the most violent, depressed, gorgeous person I had ever met.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: HEEEEY PEEEPLE! Thanks so much for your reviews, I got like, 16 on the first chapter! SO EXCITED! MUHAHAHAHA! I've already written up to chapter 4… but none of you will get to read it until I post! XD Thank you for reading, please review, I mean, if you feel like it… I'm not gunna beg or anything… *looks guilty* like I have in other stories…. :0 Anyways, thou may-st read-eth now-eth. **

The First Signs of Violence 

I quickly came to the realization that Sesshomaru hated the world. For some inexplicable reason, he was _so _bitter toward the universe that it transmuted into a general hate of all life.

He came to school a couple weeks later in a black jacket (minus the hood) and gray jeans, his silver hair flowing freely down his back. There was the general mutter of the class as he walked in and sat down, tossing his black, duct taped backpack to the floor with an audible thud. He pulled a small pocket knife out of his pocket and began to sharpen a pencil with it after kicking his feet up on the desk. I wandered over and sat down next to him.

"How's it going, A-cup?" He muttered, examining the pencil, "Going to stalk me again today? You've been at it for a while. Aren't you getting bored yet?"

"Of course I'm going to continue following you Sunshine! I'm not bored at _all_! How could I _not _love to annoy the heck outta you?" I chirped. Our teacher, Mr. Goto, walked in a bit late. He immediately looked at me, sitting straight-backed next to Sesshomaru, and then raised his voice to reach me in the far corner of the room.

"Ms. Kobayashi, I have prepared another seat for you." He said, indicating an old, battered desk that was crammed between the front row and the one behind it. I smiled sweetly up at him.

"I like where I sit, thank you. This way, I'm close to Sunshine!" Sesshomaru shot me a quick glare from the corner of his eyes before adding his voice to the conversation.

"Oh yes," he said in sarcastic tones, "A-cup and I are the _best _of friends." I frowned at him, knowing that he was only using 'A-cup' because I used 'Sunshine'. However, I was unwilling to release my grip on the nickname.

Mr. Goto raised his eyebrows at me. "Really, Ms. Kobayashi, if he is threatening you to make sure you stay for whatever reason, you may tell me. I assure you, whatever he's said cannot be counted among truth." There was a loud bang and a _thwock_ as Sesshomaru kicked his feet off the table and allowed his chair to fall forward onto all four legs, his pocket knife sticking in the wooden desk.

"You think I'd stoop _that _low?" He barked. "I've never hit a girl, nor threatened one!"

"But you're capable." The teacher snapped, facing the board now. "Everyone please turn to page three-ninety-two in your math book and follow me on problem four."

Sesshomaru was simply staring at the desk, eyes wide and obviously full of fury.

"Fine." he hissed to no one in particular.

I gazed at him for a while, finally looking away to flip to the correct page in my book. I wanted to know why everyone, even the teachers hated him. I'd never seen a case this bad before.

Class got out (no need to discuss what you could probably learn in your _own _school, right?) and Sesshomaru hefted his bag onto one shoulder before stalking out of the room, I in his wake.

"Sesshomaru?" I cried, fighting the tide of students to catch up to him, "Sesshomaru, hold on a second!" I yelled. He halted. The rest of the hall went quite.

"_What_?" He spat.

"I just wanted to ask you something." I said. Whispering started up in the hallway. A few oblivious, or ignorant, or callous individuals pushed through the crowd without care, simply intent on getting into their class. Their murmuring reached my ears with muffled clarity.

"She's talking to _him_."

"That last guy… he… has brain damage now, you know?"

"What about that guy who made a comment about Sesshomaru's hair? He was hospitalized for weeks! He transferred to another school after _that_."

"He's never hit a girl, but I wouldn't push it."

"Ten bucks to anyone who bets on that girl getting the snot beat out of 'er!" Someone in the crowd yelled. Sesshomaru stiffened, and turned on heel without removing his hands from his pockets. He strode forward past me and shoved some people out of the way, knocking the over like ninepins.

"You the one who said that?" He snarled to a young human boy, thrusting his face close so that they were nearly nose to nose. "You really think I would do that to the most civilized person here? She's the only one that doesn't treat me…" He grabbed the boy's hair. "Like and _animal_!" He threw the boy with one hand at the last word. There were cries from the crowd as Sesshomaru stepped forward.

"Um…" I squeaked, clasping my hands behind my back and bouncing on the balls of my feet.

"Come on A-cup." He growled, stepping over the unconscious form of the offending human, who was sporting a visibly split lip and a most likely broken nose. I jogged after him. Surprisingly, we were some of the only students _not _late to that period.

Kaede looked around at the near empty class as the bell rang.

"What, is there an _epidemic _or something out there?" She cried in exasperation. A kid with black hair pulled into a small ponytail snickered.

"Yeah. They call it Sesshomaru disease. Symptoms include broken bones, panic, mortal fear, wetting ones pants and a twenty percent chance of death!"

"Shut up Miroku." Sesshomaru said grimly. Kaede sighed.

"Again, Sesshomaru?"

"Yeah. What of it?" He growled defiantly.

"It's all right Sessh, that kid had it coming anyways. Saying something like that about your lady friend…" Miroku butted in, crossing his arms.

"Thanks Miroku. Don't touch her or I'll rip your fingers off one at a time starting with your nails." Sesshomaru's tone didn't change but Miroku visibly paled. I looked down to see his hand about an inch from my backside. I gently pushed his hand away.

"I would reprimand you for such and act, Miroku, but it seems that Sesshomaru's tactic is working just fine." Kaede called without looking up from her teaching plan. Miroku held his hands up in a submissive gesture.

"Alright, alright, I didn't know you and she were together. No need to be violent." He said to Sesshomaru.

"We're not 'together' as you say. But groping women in plain sight is pitiably stupid, even by your standards." Sesshomaru replied, going through his bag.

"Yeah, that's kind of true. But I'm a pervert by trade." Miroku smirked.

"Change your trade before it gets you killed then." Sesshomaru shot back. I giggled at the look on Miroku's face.

"You tell 'im Sunshine!" I cheered. I really had an aversion to being groped.

"_Sunshine_?" Miroku yelped. "Did you just call him _Sunshine?_ Dude, Sesshomaru, that is _so _unmanly!"

"Shut up, perv." Sesshomaru growled, finally tugging his book out of his bag and slamming it onto the desk. "I'm in a really bad mood today."

"Er, Sesshomaru, do you have _any _mood other than 'really bad'?" Miroku asked.

"Yeah. There's 'average', 'bad', and 'really bad'."

"You missed 'happy'." I put in.

"There _is _no 'happy'." He replied coldly.

"Alright, enough chitchat. Byakuya, stop poking Juromaru and pay attention. We will be going over general hygiene today-"

"-Something Koga has never heard of!" Crowed a boy with a black braid and a purple four-point star on his forehead.

"Don't pick on my Koga, I like the way he smells!" Cried a boy with inverted purple triangles below his eyes.

"Oy! I have a _girlfriend _you homo!" Koga yelled.

"SHUT UP!" Sesshomaru roared before motioning for Kaede to continue and slouching in his chair. I marked the relationship between Kaede and Sesshomaru; not hate. It was a start, at least…

"As I was saying…." Kaede said with a roll of her eyes and an appreciative gesture toward Sesshomaru. I pretty much tuned out after that, not really one to need help with my personal hygiene. The bell rang and snapped me out of my daze. I had early lunch, third period.

I followed Sesshomaru to his lunch table this time rather than losing him in the sea of students. He simply sat down, not bothering to get food. I pulled out my strawberry lunchbox and opened it up to grab my sandwich.

"Aren't you going to eat?" I asked with my mouth full.

"I don't need to." Came his cold reply.

"Huh?" I swallowed. "Surely you must be hungry! It's lunch!"

"I don't eat. At all. Ever."

"I'm lost."

"Food is not necessary to my existence. I could even go without sleep if I so chose to do so. In fact, not even oxygen is really needed for me to survive."

"What?" I shrieked. He didn't need air, sleep, or sustenance. What did this guy live off of? Sunlight? That would be ironic… I opened my mouth to ask, but he cut me off.

"I'm not going to repeat myself." Sesshomaru put his head in his arms after that, silver hair covering his face and stayed completely silent. I ate and simply watched the slow rise and fall of his shoulders as he took the deep breaths of a sleeper.

After a moment I noticed two boys, one with pale pink hair and the other with flaming red, both with violet eyes, preparing to dump a bottle of ice cold milk over Sesshomaru.

"Hey, you leave him alone!" I yelled, half-standing.

"Make us, _human_!" The pink haired boy sneered.

"Make us! Make us!" Echoed the red-head. Sesshomaru's hand flashed up and grabbed the boy holding the milk around the arm. I had thought he was _asleep!_

"You woke me up." Sesshomaru growled, raising his head. Oh. He _was _asleep. "One of the only things I enjoy doing, and you just _had _to ruin it. Disappear." There was a dull crack as Sesshomaru momentarily tightened his grip on the kid.

The red-head howled, clutching his now fractured arm. I stared at Sesshomaru. His eyes were now flaming red and purple and his magenta streaks were jagged and warped.

Well _that's _new…

"I said _get out of my face!_" He hissed, swinging around and kicking the guy backward. His pink-haired compadre tried to scramble away, but Sesshomaru was a little too… ruthless to let that happen. He lunged forward, pulling Pink-hair back by his shirt collar.

"Y-you're choking… me!" Pink-hair gasped.

"You think _I _care? Go cy to you mother you spineless _worm_." Sesshomaru cast the boy to the floor. I was more than a little unnerved. As of yet, I hadn't seen anything to make me seriously think that Sesshomaru was out of range to fix him.

This was pushing it.

So far there was only one guy I had been unable to fix, and he went on a shooting spree and ended up in jail.

"Knock it off Sesshomaru!" I cried, grabbing his sleeve. He halted momentarily before shaking me off and leaving the room. "Someone take care of them!" I yelled over my shoulder as I chased after Sunshine.

I found him leaning with his forehead against the wall, totally deadpan. I tapped his arm, wondering if he had seen me. He looked at me through the corner of his eyes. Those bitter, tortured eyes.

"Sorry. I lost control." Was the only thing he said to me.

I did something that made me a little nervous then. I hugged him.

He stiffened, as if a hug was something new to him, like he had no idea what to do in this circumstance.

"You shouldn't hurt people." I whispered. "There are other ways to do things."

"Not in my world." He responded softly. "My world is different from yours. My eyes see differently than yours do. My heart doesn't feel like yours does."

"I don't think you and I are all that different." I whispered. He pushed me away then, extracting himself from my embrace. His eyes were hard now, hard as amber diamonds.

"Trust me, you and I are _very _different." He whipped around and stalked off to who knew where, and I knew that something lay behind his cold, violent demeanor.

Something that held him shackled in his world of pain and hate.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Haahaha, what up guys? Sooo… here is why Sesshomaru doesn't want to go home… hope this explains more! Please leave me some reviews… I'm have writers block on this story and can't decide how to complete chapter 4… I'm only about half way through?**

Bitter

"_M-mother?" Sesshomaru choked through his tears, the eleven year old boy heaving huge, shuddering breaths, "Mother why are you…"_

"_Oh Sesshomaru, my baby…" The crazed look went out of her eyes and she took a step forward. Holding his shattered wrist close to his body, ignoring the streams of blood that flowed from it where the bone poked out, Sesshomaru scrambled back, huddling in a dark corner. _

"_Mother… you…"_

" _Come here, my darling. I've hurt you terribly… I'm so sorry. So sorry." His mother began to weep, holding her arms open as if ready to embrace him. Sesshomaru stood and stumbled toward her. Maybe this time it would be alright. Maybe this time…._

_WHACK_

_Sesshomaru's feet left the floor for an instant and he thudded down on his side, his mother's handprint already forming on his face, left by her vicious backhand. Sesshomaru bit his lips so hard they bled, but better that than screaming. She would only hit him again if he cried out._

"_You stupid, useless, worthless child!" She screamed at him. Tears began to cascade down his face as she lifted him by his shaggy silver hair. "You foolish, disgusting excuse for a demon! Anyone would have been able to see that I was faking. As if I would _ever _care about you!"_

_She tossed him into the corner like a ragdoll, his compound fractured arm flopping sickeningly over his limp form. He closed his eyes tightly and listened as she stormed away._

"_Why?" He whispered. "Why did you leave me alone?"His eyes found the blood stained picture of his traitorous father that he had hidden under his bed. "Why did you have to go?" _

Sesshomaru buried his face in his hands, trying to drive out those horrific images.

He had said he and Rin were different. It was true. Rin was too kind to have known the scourge of the hatred of a parent. She was too sweet. He was as bitter as wormwood. No, they were _nothing _alike.

"Why?" He whispered into his hands, echoing the memory. A hand rested on his shoulder and he started, looking up at me.

I had followed him outside at the risk of looking nosy. I sat down next to him, settling on the cold stone of the wall.

"Do you want to talk about it?" I asked.

"No." I wasn't surprised. But then again, if I could find the cause, I could help him. I decided to start asking about things, regardless of the awkward air.

"Hey Sesshomaru… what are your parents like?"

"My father is dead." He replied flatly. I raised one eyebrow at him.

"And your mother?"

"I wish she were dead too." His cold reply surprised me. Why on earth would he _want _his mother to die?

"My parents are both dead… so we are similar on that account. They were murdered." I continued softly.

"My father _deserved _what he got and my mother deserves a violent, painful end." His voice had acquired a chilling quality, a burning desire for the deaths of others. The bell rang behind us. I stood and grabbed his wrist, tugging slightly.

"Come on," I urged, "let's go to class."

"I don't want to." He hissed rebelliously, pulled his arm out of my grasp. I poked him in the face.

"Come _on _Sunshine! You're going, and that's _final_!"

"As if you could stop me if I wanted to leave." He muttered, standing up and following me regardless. As we walked through the halls, people pressed themselves up against the walls to make rooms for us, not wanting to touch Sesshomaru.

Sesshomaru slammed into his chair unhappily and I sat delicately next to him. A strange thought suddenly occurred to me, and I unwittingly voiced it aloud.

"You know, if we got married, there would be no one there because neither of us have any family." Sesshomaru quirked an eyebrow at me, giving me his, 'where the hell did _that _come from?' face.

"I have a brother who would come." He replied slowly.

"You _do_?" I yelped, "I never knew that!"

"He sits _right behind you_, you oblivious a-cup!" Sesshomaru cried in exasperation. I whipped around to find myself nose to nose with Inuyasha. He simply stared at me with wide eyes as I examined him.

His hair and eyes were the same tint as Sesshomaru's, and they had the same nose shape. Beyond that, they were completely different. I spun back around to look at Sesshomaru.

"Oh," was all I had time to say before the bell rang and Yura called the class to order.

"Class, there will be a group project due in two weeks on our history chapter. Get into pairs and work out what you are going to do with your partner. Papers, folder boards, models, paintings, drawings, etcetera will be accepted. Go." She called. Everyone paired together and left Sesshomaru alone.

Guess who got Sunshine?

Yippee.

"Aw! I didn't want you! You won't do any work, will you?" I accused. Sesshomaru shrugged.

"Probably not." His tone was unconcerned.

"Well, since you're not working, we'll do the project at your house." I said proudly.

"No _way_!" Sesshomaru cried, eyes wide.

"Why not?" I pouted. I suddenly brightened. "Is it because your house is dirty?"

"Um, yeah, that's why. My house is a mess."

"That's fine! I live alone, so my house is kinda messy too! I can still come." I sang. Sesshomaru shook his head vigorously.

"No, um, it's because of my… dog. Yeah. He doesn't like people. He'll bite your leg off if you come." He excused. I smiled at him.

"I'm good with animals. I'm sure it will be fine."

"Uh… t-there's a dead guy in my attic! Just… don't come, alright?" he asked desperately. I had never seen him so flustered before. I sighed.

"Fine, I _won't _come to your house. Jeeze!" A dead guy in his attic? What kind of excuse was _that_? "Is there anything that you're good at? Like, say, pottery or sculpture or painting? Or maybe writing or giving speeches?" I asked this in the hope that he could do _something _with our project.

"No, not really. I can do swordplay…?" He added hopefully. What the hell were we going to do with swordplay? "And… I can draw alright I guess." I looked at him.

"Do you have anything to show me as proof that you're not bluffing?" I enquired suspiciously. Sesshomaru dug a ruffled looking notebook out of his bag and handed it to me before looking away. I flipped through the book in shock.

The scenes were violent, dark, and full of death, but they were _very _well done. There was one in the very back that was unlike the others.

There was a man that looked very much like Sesshomaru holding a younger Sesshomaru on his shoulders as they laughed at the fireworks that colored the sky. It was done in pastels that blurred the lines, making it seem like a dream.

"It's beautiful…" I gasped. Sesshomaru didn't look at me. If I didn't know better, I would have said he was embarrassed. There were other pictures like that as well, portraits of people that could have been relatives. "Who's this?" I asked, pointing to a picture of a young girl that looked to be about eight.

"Does it matter who? She's dead. Just like everyone else in those drawings." His voice was flat again. "Do my drawings pass inspection?"

"Y-yes." I stammered. "We'll use them in… a story board!" I cried with sudden inspiration. Sesshomaru rolled his eyes. The bell rang after several more minutes of planning and we left to go to other classes.

I bid Sesshomaru goodbye as school ended and suddenly realized something. His notebook! I had to give it back to him still!

I turned in the direction that Sesshomaru had left in. I had never been to his house and I didn't have his address or phone number… I had no choice but to go ask in the front office.

I scurried into the drably painted room and was greeted by Suikotsu, the bipolar office manager along Jakotsu and Bankotsu, his younger brothers.

"Excuse me," I called to him, "I need some information." The tall man walked over with a kind smile.

"How can I help you?" He asked.

"I need Sesshomaru Murakami's address please." I requested. Suikotsu raised his eyebrows at me and an outburst of hilarity erupted from Jakotsu and Bankotsu from the back of the room as the used each other for support.

"Hahahahaha! You're even stalking him at his _house_?" Bankotsu laughed, clutching his ribs.

"Hyahahaha! She's even more committed than I am!" Jakotsu hooted. Suikotsu pursed his lips and stared at me.

"You're asking for nothing but trouble if you go there." He told me seriously.

"But I need to give him his book…" I murmured. Suikotsu sighed and flipped open his files.

"Murakami… Murakami… Mura- ah, here he is. Murakami, Sesshomaru: 2486 Wolf Creek. You can get there from here by taking East Oak Parkway up two intersections then taking a left on Silver Leaf drive and continuing up unil that street intersects with Wolf Creek, alright?"

I thanked Suikotsu, glared at the still giggling Bankotus and Jakotsu and set off in search of Sesshomaru's home.

I followed Suikotsu's directions to a T and found myself on an empty street devoid of homes except for the mansion on top of the hill at the end of the road. I walked up to check the number, just to make sure it was the right house, and sure enough, it was. 2486 Wolf Creek. I heard shouting and crashes from inside, freezing the act of knocking.

"I'm sick of you, you filthy runt! What use are you anyways? You don't have a job, your cooking sucks, your grades suck, you can't even take a beating properly!" A woman shrieked. There was the sound of flesh on flesh, a thud, and a pained grunt that sounded like Sesshomaru.

"_You're _sick of _me_? _Ha_!" I heard Sesshomaru retaliate. "What about _you_? Why do I have to put up with this? I'm leaving." There were footsteps and an insane chuckle.

"You'll be back. It's not like you have anywhere else to go, brat. I killed our relations so that you'd be _stuck _with me."

"I may be back this time, but one of these days, I _won't_ come back unless it's when you're _dead _so I can burn this damnable house to the ground!" Sesshomaru yelled back. I had enough sense to scramble off the porch as he stormed out the door. Unfortunately, I _didn't _have enough sense to keep quite.

"Sesshomaru!" I called, running down the hill after him. He stiffened and halted turning back toward me with flaming eyes. I gasped and put a hand over my mouth.

His right I eyes swollen underneath by a red handprint glowing like a coal, blood trickled from the corner of his mouth and he had scratches on his neck. He shot forward and grabbed me by the shoulders, eyes wide with panic. I gasped in sudden terror. To have his fearful red eyes staring me in the face made me feel like a rat cornered by a dog.

"I told you not to come!" He yelled at me. "How much did you hear?"

"N-nothing!" I lied. Tears began to form in my eyes as he let go of me and stumbled back in relief.

"That's… that's good." He replied, struggling to keep his voice down. "I'm sorry, what did you need?"

"I j-just wanted to give you your b-book." I stuttered, holding it out to him. He took it from me with a grim look and turned back down the hill.

"You should have waited until tomorrow." He said, looking at me over his shoulder. "And by the way… I know you're lying."

I fell still. I had no idea that he lived with that… that… _witch_ of a mother.

I had to help him.

But how?


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Hello my readers! I hope you like this… interesting twist. I mean, you all pretty much predicted it… am I that obvious with it? Anyways, enjoy this XD Please review, thanks for reading, I am honored! Haha **

The Supposed End of Friendship

Sesshomaru arrived at school the next day with his scratches and now black eye in full light. Everyone muttered as he sat down, obviously wondering what had happened. Most likely speculating a street fight of some kind.

No, what had happened to Sesshomaru was so much worse.

He didn't greet me like he usually did. In fact, he didn't even look at me. I didn't have a chance to say anything to him before the bell rang and class started, so I scribbled a note and put it on his desk.

_What's wrong?_

He crumpled it in his fist without opening the note and laid his head in his arms, facing away from me. I simply stared at him. What the hell was _his _malfunction?

Class continued like that, and the longer I looked at Sesshomaru, the more marks I could see on his skin. Whether it was because he was demon or what, his bruises looked more faded than they had yesterday. Aside from that, he was wearing the same clothes as when I had last seen him and his eyes carried dark bags from lack of sleep.

I didn't pay much attention to class until the bell rang. Sesshomaru stood, keeping his eyes on the floor and packed his things, still without turning my way, or even glancing at my face as he left.

Okay. I could see why he would be a little depressed. His mother beats him and he left home last night. Sure. But why the heck was he ignoring_ me_?

I caught up with him and latched onto his arm.

"Sesshomaru!" I complained loudly as he didn't stop walking and simply dragged me along like I weighed two pounds.

"Shut up." He commanded quietly, continuing to stride along as if I had never said anything.

"Why-ow-are-ow-you-ow-ignoring-ow-me?" I yelled as I stumbled along behind him, his arm the only thing stopping me from smacking my face into the tile. Sesshomaru halted suddenly at Kaede's classroom and dragged me inside, sitting down quietly. He was trembling ever so slightly.

"Sesshomaru… are you _shaking_?" I heard Inuyasha ask from behind. Sesshomaru didn't answer. Inuyasha poked his older brother in the back of the head. Sesshomaru gave him an incredibly scary glare from the corner of his eye. Inuyasha stopped pestering Sesshomaru. Yup.

Kaede taught class as usual, and, as usual, I tuned her out. Not because I disliked her, but because I had no need of her class…

Okay, I'm bored. _Time lapse_ toooooo… the end of class.

Sesshomaru stood slowly and trudged out of the room, eyes downcast as the bell rang. Rather than pushing people out of the way proudly like he usually did, he allowed himself to buffeted by the crowed. He was pushed, shoved, tripped and jostled, but he didn't make a single move to stop it.

I followed him meekly to his table, but when I sat down, he stood up again and left. So, I got up and followed him to the next table… and the next… and the next.

Eventually he stopped. Without looking at me, this is what he told me.

"Go away, Rin." That was the first time he had called me by my name, ever. He had always called me a-cup before this. But somehow, hearing him say my name like that made it more… _final_.

"Not until you tell me why you won't look me in the eyes." I shot back.

"I can't have contact with you anymore."

"W-what? Why?" He finally looked up, eyes tortured and horrified.

"She _knows_ Rin. My mother wants to kill you because of what you heard. We know you heard _everything_." He whispered. I stupidly said the first thing that came to my mind.

"What about our project?"

"I can go to your house to do it. After all, I can't let you do all the work or I won't get a grade. But I must. Not. Be. Seen. If I'm seen with you, you'll die."

"B-but…" I was in shock. Sure, I had heard that his mom had slaughtered countless people, but that was no reason to want to ki-… okay, maybe it was.

"Don't sit next to me. Don't walk with me. Don't speak to me. Don't even pass notes to me." He swallowed a bit nervously. "I've only known you for a few weeks, and you were the only friend I ever had. Thank you." After that, he stood, and I simply sat there in shock.

Oh my gosh. There is a crazy lady out to kill me. Oh my _gosh_. I started laughing hysterically… 'Cause I was hysterical at that point…

I began thinking quickly about the situation. I wanted to help Sesshomaru out, but this could swiftly become a life threatening situation to both me and him. If I was to help him, it would have to be incredibly subtle.

"Sesshomaru!" I yelled across the room. WAIT! _Subtle…_ I thought, skittering over to the silver haired boy. "Sesshomaru!" I whispered. He looked at me like I was nuts.

Which I am.

Which has nothing to do with this topic…

Which reminds me of marshmallows.

But this is beside the point. Sesshomaru was still looking at me like I was a creep, motioning for me to continue.

"I'm going to help you." I said boldly. He shook his head at me and gave me a scorching gaze.

"No. Not only do I not need your _help_, I don't need you _dying _and then being on my conscience for the rest of my existence." He said stiffly before turning away silently, and I huffily glared at him. After stomping away, I decided that it was back to the drawing board for this one…

Buuuut… then the bell rang before my poor brain had a chance to think up another approach. So I walked back to class to see Sesshomaru (who got there faster than I did) punching Inuyasha (who fell on his butt) over something trivial. So trivial, I've forgotten what it was…

In any case, Sesshomaru was _pissed_. More so than usual.

"Damn…" Inuyasha groaned, picking himself up. "What the hell is _up _with him?" He muttered in my ear, causing Sesshomaru to shoot him and angry glare.

"Hell if I know." I lied, knowing, or rather, guessing why Sesshomaru was acting the way he was. Something suddenly dawned on me, and I had to stop myself from screaming in excitement.

Every once in a while I get these _epiphanies_ that are like, the mothers of all great ideas in my opinion.

I tore a page out of my notebook, scribbled down a question, folded in, and wrote on the outside '_READ THIS DAMMIT!'_ before passing it to him.

He glared at the paper, opened it slowly, and read. His eyes widened fractionally and he looked at me like I was insane. Which I am, but whatever.

He shook his head slowly before passing the note back.

_We'll discuss this later. _

I nodded, knowing that 'later' was better than 'HELL NO!'.

School ended, and the second it did, Sesshomaru grabbed my wrist and dragged me outside where no one would hear us. He grabbed the slip of paper from where the corner was sticking out of my pocket and held it between two fingers.

"Live with you?" He asked incredulously. "_Live _with you?"

"I have a spare room." I replied coolly, "You don't eat, so I don't have to buy you food and you can do your own laundry. I don't see a problem." Sesshomaru face palmed.

"Rin… what about you? People already think I'm a delinquent, and if they find out that I'm using your house as… a temporary bunk, your reputation will do this!" He took a hand, held it above his head, and mimed a crashing plane spinning to earth and exploding. "Pkshew!" He exclaimed, miming the explosion.

"Two things: one, you _are _pretty much a delinquent, no question there, and two, I don't care." I responded, counting off my fingers as I spoke.

"If I don't come back, mother will be suspicious." He said quietly. I glanced at him.

"You told her you were running away, right?" Sesshomaru nodded. "And you haven't gone back yet?" Sesshomaru shook his head.

"She came and found me to tell me to stay away from you, but I haven't gone back."

"Then there's no problem. If you live in my house, you'll be able to do _something_ against your mother. Like, tell me if she's coming or something so I can leave before she has a chance to kill me or whatever. Dinner's at six, I expect you to be there with your luggage before then." I said briskly, turning away.

"But-!"

"No buts!" I called over my shoulder, still unsure if I was doing the right thing. "Six o'clock! No later!"

I strode home alone. He living with me was the only available option to get him out of his mother's house and away from her abuses. Anything else would just backtrack and cause the same things to repeat like a never ending cycle.

If he went to an orphanage, she would contact police and call him a runaway.

If he tried to get help from the police himself… well, he had had too many encounters with them for them to believe him anyway.

I half closed the door behind me when I got inside to find the lights already on. Come to think of it, the front door hadn't been locked when I opened it.

"Hello?" I called timidly. A pale hand shut the door gently behind me.

"Yes?"

"HOLY CRAP!" I screamed. Sesshomaru covered his ears with a grimace.

"Dammit woman, what are you trying to do here, make me go deaf?" He cried from his position beside the door. I put my hand to my chest to try and calm my fluttering heart.

"Y-you! H-how d-did you get i-in here?" I stammered. He jerked a thumb at the front door.

"I'm good at picking and/or breaking locks. Don't worry, I left yours intact."

"How did you get here before me though?" I asked in surprise.

"I climbed in through my bedroom window, grabbed my clothes and toiletries, got back out and ran here. No biggie. It's just that humans are incredibly slow in comparison."

"Thanks for that." I said sarcastically with a roll of my eyes. Sesshomaru shrugged, lifting a small bag off the floor.

"So where do I go? I didn't want to look around in case there were rooms that were off limits to me." I raised my eyebrows at him. I didn't expect him to have the forethought not to go nosing around…

"There aren't any rooms particularly _off limits_ per say, but if you ever feel the need to go into my room, make sure you knock."

"Of course, A-cup. Even if I didn't knock and you happened to be undressed, there wouldn't much to see." He snorted. I shot him a dirty look.

"Your room is in there." I pointed to the room at the end of the hall across from mine. His door was different from the other doors in the house; it was the only one with a dent midway through it.

Sesshomaru peered inside at the snow cloud-gray walls and midnight blue carpet with matching curtains. The bed was a plain affair with an iron frame and an old mattress. Sesshomaru made a noncommittal gesture.

"It'll do." He said, tossing his bag onto the bed and pulling out his few belongings. He pulled a torn picture out of the top that looked like it was stained with bloody fingerprints and put the picture on the broken dresser.

"As if you have anywhere else to go." I huffed. He looked at me with a sad kind of smirk.

"I guess you're right. Thank you, Rin." He said softly.

"Hey! None of that! If you keep thanking me I might think you had a fever or something!" I cried fearfully. Seriously, Sesshomaru was acting… un-Sesshomaru like by doing that.

"If you insist." He said with another shrug, walking past me and out of the room to put his toothbrush in our shared bathroom. I watched him walk away with a feeling akin to hope.

Perhaps I would be able to help him after all.

But whether or not his emotional scars healed all depended on him.


	5. Chapter 5

Project Complete! Access… Denied!

"Alright Sesshomaru…" I muttered with my tongue between my teeth in concentration as I tried to glue part of our story board straight, "Hand me that picture of the samurai you've been working on for the past twenty minutes."

Sesshomaru picked his head up off the table where he'd been watching me like a sleepy old dog and handed me a piece of paper. I was about to glue it on before I noticed that it was two stick people sword fighting.

"Sesshomaru!" I yelled in exasperation, "What is this?"

"Samurai." He mumbled, putting his head back down.

"No it is not! These are stick figures!"

"Same difference…" He yawned with a shooing movement.

It was Saturday morning, the weekend before the board was due. As expected, I had done all the work so far.

The day had started off with me nearly peeing myself because I had forgotten that Sesshomaru was in my house. After that, he stared at me the entire time I was eating my cereal, and it creeped me out. Whenever I ate at school, he slept, so I don't know if he was fascinated or _what_, but it was weird.

Anyways, then I went to take a shower and returned to find him trying to piece my lamp back together with tacky glue. I didn't even bother asking how _that _happened, but whatever.

So here we were, working on this project.

"_Not _the same thing! This is the only part you have to do!" I cried.

"Mmm…" he responded with his forehead on the table. I threw my hands in the air angrily, but trying to keep my temper.

"I give up. Come on, we're going grocery shopping." I stood, and Sesshomaru followed, blinking like an owl woken too early. He pulled his familiar black hoodie over his head and put the hood up, hunching over like he usually did when he didn't want to do something but was complying anyways.

We arrived at the store after a few minutes of walking. Sesshomaru naturally exuded a bad-tempered aura, so most people steered clear of us on our walk. Sesshomaru was walking a few feet behind me; this must have given a bad impression because a cop pulled over and asked if I knew who he was, and if I knew he was following me.

In any case, we got to the store without much of a mishap. As we meandered through the aisles, Sesshomaru kept a permanently board expression on his face.

"Sesshomaru, " I asked as we passed the frozen food section, "_could _you eat if you wanted?"

"Yeah." He replied tonelessly. "If I found a food I liked, I could eat. It wouldn't change anything."

"Well… do you have a favorite food?" Sesshomaru's eyebrows raised a bit, as if he was surprised by my question.

"Now that you ask… I like waffles." He said this like it was the most normal thing in the world.

"Um… waffles?" I asked quizzically, "What _kind _of waffles?" I wanted to know just so I could buy some. I wanted to have the experience of seeing Sesshomaru eat just to say I did. You know… like going to the Grand Canyon just because.

"Cranberry." He turned to examine a box of oatmeal. "I will never understand how you humans can stand eating horse feed." He shook the box with distaste obvious in his movements.

"It's not 'horse feed', they're dried oats!" I told him while picking up a box of Miniwheats to throw in the cart.

"Horses eat dried oats too. In fact, they quite enjoy them. Like humans and candy." He shot back. "Therefore, it is horse feed."

"You seem very out of sorts this morning." I commented mildly. He snorted angrily and replaced the box of oats on the shelf.

"Well, you didn't ask, but I'll tell you anyways… My favorite food is chocolate. Every girl likes chocolate. By the way, cranberry waffles are a pretty… _unique _favorite food…" Sesshomaru didn't reply and simply examined some other box moodily. I wondered briefly what was wrong with him before getting distracted by my grocery list.

We walked home at a considerably slower pace due to the fact that we were both laden with groceries. While I don't doubt that Sesshomaru could have carried all of the bags and _still _beaten me home, he chose not to and allowed me to carry exactly half of the load.

I flopped onto the couch the instant we were in, letting blood flow back into my arms. Sesshomaru wordlessly gathered up the bags and put the food neatly in the fridge as I caught my breath.

"Thanks!" I panted, still a little breathless. He shrugged, picked up a blank sheet of paper and began to draw. I watched as he furrowed his eyebrows in concentration and continued to draw for half an hour, hand moving so fast it blurred over the paper.

He gazed at his creation with a critical eye before standing and presenting it to me. Two perfectly formed samurai clashing swords so hard sparks were flying. I gaped at the detail in the picture.

"Better?" He asked.

"Much better!" I cried, leaping up to put the picture on our board. "The only thing we need now is a picture of a feudal lord and a traditional castle! Think you can manage?"

"Of course." Sesshomaru scoffed, as if he hadn't given me stick figures before. I rolled my eyes at his sudden change of mood. He seemed to do that a lot.

In about another hour, our project was totally complete in all ways, and looked pretty good if I do say so myself. Sesshomaru's graphite sketches stood out boldly against the colored background, giving our board a rather striking appearance.

I sighed happily as I gazed at it.

"Hey Sunshine! How do you think it looks?" No answer. "Sunshine?" I turned to see him sleeping with his mouth slightly open, head on the table. I gave a small smile. "Shhhh…" I whispered to myself, tiptoeing to my own room.

A couple hours later I walked back in to start making dinner. Sesshomaru jolted upright and fell over backward when I entered.

"Owww…" He growled, rubbing the back of his head as he picked himself up of the floor. I had to resist the urge to burst out laughing.

"Have a nice nap?" I asked politely. Sesshomaru looked at me blankly.

"Um, yeah, I guess so." It looked like he was confused about how nice I was being to him. He pulled his hoodie off and tossed it onto the couch before walking over into the kitchen with me.

I pulled a bunch of frozen vegetables out of the fridge to make a stir-fry. After tossing everything in the pan, I began to cook, and tried to look off-hand about it. I looked coolly at Sesshomaru as he eyed my pan with raised eyebrows.

"Yep," I said proudly, "I can cook pretty well. Bet this makes you wish you had to eat on a regular basis, huh?"

"You're burning it." Sesshomaru pointed out grimly. I looked back at the pan to see my stir-fry erupt into flames.

"EEEEEEEEE!" I squealed, grabbing a cup of water to douse the fire. Unfortunately for me, I forgot that putting _water _on an _oil _fire makes it _explode_.

With a fierce pop, the pan blew up, covering me in lukewarm vegetable crud and hot oil. The oil hurt my body, but my pride had been burned beyond recognition. Sesshomaru gave me a once-over, and spun me around with one hand to face the bathroom.

"You go clean yourself up," he sighed tiredly, "I'll do the cooking." I gave him an incredulous look. "_Yes_, I can _cook_." He expressed, "now go take a shower!"

I walked away to hear him grumbling to himself about flour and a waffle maker. I shrugged. Whatever he made, I would have to eat it. It would be rude not to I guess…

I quickly stripped as the water flowing from the showerhead heated up to a comfortable temperature. Gazing into the mirror, I blinked back at my reflection, eyes roving my own face, searching for something. It was like looking at a map without quite knowing where you want to go.

I stepped into the shower and felt the streams of warmth penetrating my skin in a luxurious and delicate manner, lifting my face into the liquid to rinse myself of the oil and vegetable… stuff.

After washing my hair for the second time that day, I stepped out and cleaned a spot off the foggy mirror, checking my body for any burn marks that may or may not have been left by the oil. I quickly wrapped my hair in a towel to help it to dry faster. A near-empty bottle of lotion fell and shattered at my feet when hit with towel, causing me to give a small startled cry.

"Rin?" I heard through the door. The door opened. I'd forgotten to tell Sesshomaru that the lock and latch were broken… the door opened at the slightest pressure… like knocking. "What happen-…" His eyes widened as he stumbled in, not expecting the door to open.

He glanced up, and then quickly back down at the floor. I could have sworn I saw his face flush with embarrassment.

"The door is broken." I squeaked. He nodded mutely and backed out of the room, eyes glued to the floor. He shut the door gently, like he was in shock or something. I wanted to scream. He had _seen _me _naked_! AHHHHH!

"Keep calm," I whispered to myself, "If you make a big deal about it, it will seem like a big deal to him too… just don't… say anything about it."

I dressed in my pajamas (boxer shorts and a cruddy, too big T-shirt that used to belong to my older brother… I really have no idea why I keep the thing really…) and exited the bathroom, my damp hair hanging down my back.

A delicious smell hit my nose as soon as I got out of range of the shampoo smell. It was waffles… with an odd tang. I saw Sesshomaru sitting at the table pushing a bit of waffle around a plate, which I assumed was his; two other plates inhabited the table. One was empty, right across from him, and the other was loaded with red-studded waffles.

I glanced at the kitchen, expecting to see a mess, but the counters, floor, and sink were clear of both dishes and debris.

I sat down at the table and flopped a waffle onto my plate, examining the red bits.

"What kind of waffles are these exactly?" I asked hesitantly.

"Cranberry." Sesshomaru replied shortly, putting his last bite of waffle in his mouth and looking up at me. "Eat."

His one word answers made me think that maybe to him, seeing me naked was a bit much.

I took a cautious bite, and was suddenly delighted by the sweet and sour flavors that exploded on my tongue. The sour cranberries mingled perfectly with the sweet, fluffy bread of the waffle.

"Delicious!" I cried, shoveling more food into my mouth. Yeah, we were eating a breakfast food at night… but who cares?

"Hn." Sesshomaru picked up his plate and took it to the sink before walking away.

"Where are you going?" I queried.

"To bed." He responded. I watched him as he walked down the hall. Now that I looked, that light flush was still on his face… I giggled.

Hadn't he been the one to tell me that even if he saw me, there wouldn't be much to look at? And now he was getting all embarrassed?

Hypocrite.

I went over the day in my head. Grocery store… project… exploding dinner… Sesshomaru seeing me in the nude.

That is just a peachy way to start off living with a new roommate. I sighed to myself.

"Oh well…" I muttered, eating another waffle, "tomorrow is a new day, right?"

**A/N: Hello again! First and foremost, THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR REVIEWS! I love you guys :3 Also, thank you for just reading it to begin with… I hope you enjoyed, please review again XD**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Hay guys! Thanks for all your reviews, and I hope you are still enjoying the story… I really don't know what I'm going to do with next chapter, so I can't give you any hints this week… bummer. Ah well… please review if you enjoyed the chapter. Or if you didn't too I guess…. **

**Whatever. You can just read now… XD**

Of Shakespeare and Wind-witchy Stalkers

Monday rolled around bright and early after an INCREDIBLY lazy Sunday. By lazy, I mean, I put off all my house work and Sesshomaru sat around watching me put it off. Yeaaaah… I might pay for procrastinating later…

I stumbled out of bed at six thirty, earlier than usual, just to make sure that both Sunshine and I would have enough time to use the shower and such without running into each other.

However, when I entered the kitchen to make a pot of coffee, it was already made, and Sesshomaru was lolling around at the kitchen table. I stared at him.

"How early did you get up?" I cried while pouring a cup of coffee. "Thanks for the coffee by the way."

Sesshomaru shrugged, blinking at me owlishly. "I never really fell asleep, so I just kinda hung out until the sun broke the horizon and then I wandered out here…" I glared at him.

"You know, I _used _to wonder why you were always falling asleep at lunch, but I don't have to now…" I could have sworn he smirked for a millisecond, but it was gone before I could be sure. "Anyways," I said with a roll of my eyes, "I'm going to be getting ready for school, so just sit tight for about… two hours." Our school started at eight thirty, so I had a while to get ready… I got up too early dang it!

"Hn… whatever." Sesshomaru replied.

I smiled and began to walk away. Unfortunately for Sesshomaru, in my half asleep state I became the ultimate klutz, tripping. I didn't fall, but all of my coffee splashed over the rim and landed on Sesshomaru's head.

There was a moment if utter silence where I put my hand to my mouth in shock and Sesshomaru sat dripping.

"Um, oops?" I squeaked, expecting him to be angry. He stood with a small sigh.

"Can I use the shower first then?" He asked. I nodded dumbly and watched him walk away, still raining little drops of brown liquid onto the carpet.

And so, after a small, last minute scramble in which I had to find my math book in a pile of dirty clothes (told you I'd pay for procrastinating on doing chores, didn't I?) we were off… and not to see the wizard of Oz. (**A/N: Sorry… sorta an inside joke… it still makes sense tho!**)

Upon our arrival, there was much chatter at the fact that we had come together, as well as many stares. Sesshomaru raised his eyebrows at me as if to say, 'didn't I tell you this would happen?'

Math class seemed unusually brief today, perhaps because I really wanted to turn in our project.

After this, we went to Kaede's room to find that we had a sub for the day. The black haired woman said that we would be reading a passage out of Hamlet and then writing a short paragraph on it as a spontaneous writing test. Her eyes instantly fell on Sesshomaru to read.

"You there! Yes, you, the young man in black; would you care to read?" Sesshomaru quickly scanned the passage and stood grimly to begin.

"To be, or not to be, that is the question:" his voice was cold with an angry edge to it, "Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer the stings and arrows of outrageous fortune, or to take up arms against a sea of troubles; And, by opposing, to _end _them. To die," his voice softened to add a bit off sorrow to his tones, "to sleep- No more- and by a sleep to say we end the heartache and the thousand natural shocks that flesh is heir to- 'tis consummation devoutly to be whished. To die, to sleep- To sleep, perchance to dream, and-"

"Stop!" The woman up front cried, tears in her eyes. "That was excellent reading, full credit for all the emotion put into those words! It was if you _felt _the pain of the character Hamlet as he struggled with the thought of suicide!"

I stared at Sesshomaru. I had gotten the same feeling as the teacher as well… I shrugged it off, deigning to ask Sunshine about it later.

The bell rang and we scrambled off to lunch period… well, to describe Sesshomaru as 'scrambling' is a bit odd… we'll say that he 'trudged'.

As usual, the instant we sat down at our empty table, he put his head on his arms to fall asleep.

"Hey Sesshomaru…" I started.

"Hn." He grunted in reply… as usual.

"You um… put a lot of emotion… into your… reading…" I said awkwardly. He gazed at me in mild surprise.

"Did I? I didn't notice."

"You had the perfect voice for that 'To be or not to be' Soliloquy." He shrugged in return.

"It's easy when you've been there before." His voice was muffled by his sleeves, but I could hear him clearly.

"Been where?" I asked in confusion.

"At that point where you just want to die, and will do anything to make it happen."

His words made me freeze, and he must have noticed, because he continued.

"You don't have to worry, I'm over it now. I found a reason to live. In grade school, when things were really bad, I thought about ending everything… it wouldn't have been hard. But I obviously decided to live, if only to avenge myself upon my mother when I was strong enough. Suicide seems somehow… cowardly… to me at least."

"That's terrible!" I cried.

"Is it?" Sesshomaru mumbled, already falling asleep. He muttered something incoherent and then began sleeping. I stared at him for a while as I ate my sandwich. It must be a truly hellish thing, to live only for the sake of avenging yourself on another.

I continued to eat in my usual silence before noticing a girl with black hair adorned with feathers staring avidly at Sesshomaru with crimson eyes. She was pretty enough, obviously a demon… and her stare made me jealous for some reason.

The bell rang and I saw her stand before sweeping out of the room, trailed by a faint breeze and an ashen mirror demon.

I poked Sesshomaru in the face, causing him to twitch and shift in his sleep. Finding that poking was ineffective, I kicked him in the shin. He snarled angrily, but at least he woke up.

"We're leaving." I called over my shoulder into the now-empty-aside-from-Sesshomaru lunch room. He stood in a languid manner and dragged his feet as he followed me out the door. I smiled to myself.

He was such a child when it came to arousing himself.

We plopped down hurriedly into our chairs to try and avoid being late. Yura had this rule about being late…. 'If you're not in your chair and prepared by the time the bell rings, you are late.' She says….

I spotted that red eyed girl again, sitting up front. I hadn't noticed her to be in this class before, but I watched as she busied herself with her partner, Bankotsu. It seemed that a piece of their model had broken off.

"Why are looking at Kagura?" Sesshomaru asked.

"Kagura? Is that who that is?" I asked stupidly. Sesshomaru nodded ill-temperedly.

"Yeah, she-"

"CLASS!" Yura bellowed, cutting off Sesshomaru. Instantly, the class fell silent. "You will now begin your presentations." She said with a gracious smile. I think she's bipolar. It scares me.

"Oh! Oh! Oh!" Ayame squealed, "I LOVE presentations!"

"I don't…" Koga said sourly, "They involve work."

"Yeah," mocked Inuyasha, "Cause we all know that you have hardly the brain capacity to stand upright, let alone to do a project…"

"Stop being mean to Koga!" Jakotsu yelled.

"Stop stalking me you freak!" Koga yelled back. Ayame and Jakotsu started a cat fight over Koga at which point Yura broke in again.

"SHUT UP!" She roared. Everyone sat down… probably because no one wished to have their head added to Yura's collection of skulls. "Everyone place your project on your or your partner's desk. All students may _quietly_ walk around and admire other student's work while I go around and hand out grades. Begin."

There was much shuffling about as people set out their work and prayed fervently for a good grade. Sesshomaru came up and stood beside the board, looking as expressionless as ever.

"Let's showcase our project Sunshine!" I cheered happily, eager to see how the other students would like our work.

Inuyasha approached first with Miroku. Their project looked like a demented ball of spaghetti. _Apparently_, it was supposed to be the decapitated head of a samurai. Inuyasha gave a low whistle and Miroku tried to grope me. Sesshomaru pushed Miroku backwards, but the pervert didn't seem to mind. In fact, he came up grinning.

"That is _sweet_!" Inuyasha commented, looking at the sketches.

"I didn't know you could draw, Rin! You should join art club with me!" Miroku cried.

"I didn't draw, that was Sesshomaru." I replied. Their faces gained the, 'WHAT THE HELL?' expression instantaneously.

"WHAT?" They yelped in unison. Kagura came up at this point.

"Wow Kobayashi!" she gasped, "those drawings of yours are _really _good!"

I pointed out the signature on the bottom of one of the pictures, a large S.M. in slanted cursive letters. "Their Sesshomaru's."

Her face registered momentary shock before becoming joyous.

"Of course! How could I expect anything less from Sesshomaru!" Sesshomaru looked at her in a highly uneasy manner, edging away even as she tried to get closer. "I'm serious darling!" She trilled, "They're the peak of artistic perfection!" I found myself gritting my teeth involuntarily as she touched his arm. "I mean, look at that _detail_, it's just so- oh!"

Sesshomaru had wordlessly gotten up and left, apparently too uncomfortable to remain there. Inuyasha and Miroku exchanged amused glances before leaving as well.

"Why'd he leave?" Kagura asked, sounding a bit crushed.

"I… think… you made him… embarrassed?" I gritted out, trying not to sound angry.

"That's so _cute_!" She squealed. I saw Sesshomaru throw a somewhat annoyed and nervous glance over his shoulder, walking further away and reaching the other side of the room in a couple seconds. She looked at me with entreaty on her eyes.

"What?" I asked peevishly.

"Well… it's just that… you seem very close to Sesshy-darling…" I narrowed my eyes at that nickname. 'Sesshy-darling'? Really? "And was wondering if you could help me out a bit…"

"Oh? How?" I queried in a poisonously sugary voice.

"I _really _like Sesshomaru… and… want to ask him out. Do you think I should?"

I balked.

_No, you _cow_! _I shouted at her in my head, _You _can't _ask him out because he is _mine!

"Of _course _you can try to ask him out!" I responded sweetly.

"Thanks so much Kobayashi!" Kagura gushed, "It means a lot! I'll ask him after school then… thanks again!" She left and it suddenly occurred to me that I was _jealous _over _Sesshomaru_. What. The. Hell.

"Freakin'… _stalker_!" Sesshomaru cried over the crowed at Kagura's retreating back. I smiled. If Sesshomaru said yes to Kagura, the world would end. There was no way in hell that he would say yes.

Nothing important happened between then and the end of school, so we'll just skip to Kagura's rejection.

"Come on," I said tiredly, "let's go home Sesshomaru." He followed mutely, walking out the front door without so much as a sigh escaping his lips.

"Sesshy-darling!" a familiar voice squealed.

"Crap." Said Sesshomaru.

"Damn." Said I.

"Will you…. Go out with me, Sesshy-darling?" Kagura squeaked. I crossed my fingers on both hands.

"You are delusional, Kagura. NO." His voice was very final, leaving no room for argument as he walked away, leaving an emotionally killed Kagura in his path.

This scene did two things for me.

One: it made me _incredibly _happy that Kagura had been turned down and that I still had Sunshine all to myself.

Two: taught me that if I _ever _wanted to ask Sesshomaru out, I would have to ensure that he liked me first.

Otherwise, he would stomp on my heart like a spider one finds on the kitchen floor.


	7. Chapter 7

**Name Meanings! Just in case anyone cared X) **

**Chisaki- 1000 blooms  
Jinn- Gold  
Ichiro- First born son  
Kaisho- fly over the seas  
Hanea- Flower Blessing  
Hiroki- Wide tree  
Fuyuko- Winter child  
Gakuuto- Educated man  
Arashi- Storm**

**Thanks for all of your support guys! In the upcoming chapter… KAGURA STRIKES BACK! Unfortunately for the wind witch, the plan back fires… **

**As for THIS chapter which you are ABOUT to READ… you'll just have to read it XD**

Memories, Sort-of-sleepovers and a Graveyard**  
**

Sesshomaru lay on his back, hands behind his head, staring up blankly at the ceiling. Ever since 'that' he hadn't been able to get Rin out of his head!

Seriously, he thought that seeing her naked would be no big deal, even if he _did _walk in on her incidentally… it was pretty much bound happen one way or another at some point in his opinion…

When he saw her… it was… _different_ to him. Like it was his first time seeing a girl or something.

At least he had something to think about in the long hours of the night…. After all, he couldn't sleep.

Not now that the anniversary of that day was coming so close. It was only the day after tomorrow. He would have to find some way to visit their graves without having to bring Rin.

Rin shouldn't have to watch him break down like that. For both his sake and hers.

Thinking on these dismal thoughts, Sesshomaru fell into a light doze. He was remembering the day he had been left behind. The day he had been left in his own personal hell.

"_Father?" Sesshomaru's voice echoed around the empty hall, usually alive with the chatter of friendly servants and the rest of the dog demon tribe. His mother had never much cared for him, she wasn't really one to play with children, but he had always had Chisaki to play with. She used to grow little peach trees for him with her powers, just so he could watch them bloom._

_The slender fourth grader had been awoken to the sounds of shrieking. He now trembled in the hallway, wringing the hem of his pajama shirt in his hands._

"_Father, I'm scared…" Sesshomaru whispered. He heard his mother's voice from down stairs._

"_How _dare _you?" She was screaming. Sesshomaru began to run toward the noise. He could smell blood. A lot of it. _

"_M-mistress- agh!" The spattering of yet more blood on wooden floors, the sound of a body thudding to the ground._

"_Fuyuko!" Inutaisho bellowed, "Leave them out of this! Killing the servants will _not _change my mind!"_

"_Father!" Sesshomaru skidded around the corner, tears in his eyes. There had been bodies… so many bodies. Gakuuto, Hanea, Hiroki and Hoshimi, Ichiro, Jinn, and even little Kaisho who was hardly more than two. _

_The dog demon clan had been decimated along with the servants._

"_Father, what's going on?"_

_Inutaisho would not meet his only son's eyes._

"_I'm leaving, Sesshomaru." The little boy seemed to choke on his breath._

"_You're… leaving? You're leaving me here… alone?" Inutaisho nodded mutely, and Sesshomaru's mother quaked in mad loss and fury. If nothing else, she had loved her husband. He was the only thing she really had._

_And now he was gone. Leaving her. Leaving her with his wretched brat, a constant reminder of him. Good._

_She would keep the brat. That's why she had killed all of her family._

_She knew Inutaisho cared about that child._

_Every time she beat _it_, it would be like exacting her revenge on Inutaisho himself. _

"_I won't allow it!" Sesshomaru yelled, running forward to grab his father's sleeve. Inutaisho gently removed his son's hand from the fabric, looking into those mirrored golden eyes reflected in all of the Western dog demons._

"_Goodbye, Sesshomaru."_

"_Don't… no, don't…" The dream faded into utter blackness that echoed hollowly with every movement Sesshomaru made as Inutaisho turned away from the boy and walked into oblivion without looking back._

_This was the emptiness that had flooded his heart since that day._

"_Don't leave me alone!" He howled to the darkness. _

_As his own words rebounded back upon him, with no new voices to add to the clamor, Sesshomaru realized what this was._

_This was what it felt like to be lonely._

_Lonely._

…

I woke with a start, Sesshomaru's voice penetrating my wall.

"Don't leave me alone!" He cried, sounding desperate and afraid. Not knowing what else to do, I got up and walked quietly to his room, opening the door as silently as possible.

I entered to see Sesshomaru sitting bolt upright in his bed on top of the covers, still in his clothes, breathing heavily.

"Sesshomaru?" I called his name in concerned tones as I walked forward. "What's wrong?"

He seemed to struggle to compose himself before answering.

"Nothing. It's nothing, just a dream." He replied, though his face said otherwise.

If it was a dream, it must have been something horrible. Probably something that had really happened. I knew what it was like. I myself had been dreaming about my brother. I was exceedingly glad that Sesshomaru's cry had woken me up.

In the dream, it played over like it always did.

Tiny little me building tiny little snowmen in the tiny little front yard of our tiny little house, counting the snowmen to make sure there was one for every person in my family.

Mama, Papa, Rin, and Arashi.

Tiny little me falling over as the gunshot from inside the house startles me. Little me running in to find the corpse of my beloved older brother in the doorway and later my parents in their room.

This time, Sesshomaru had woken me up just before the discovery of Arashi's body.

I felt fresh sorrow every time that dream came.

"Do you want to talk about it?" I murmured, fully expecting his answer.

"No. You should go to bed, Rin. You won't be able to stay awake tomorrow." His voice was dull, and his eyes not fully focused, like he was distracted by something else. I bit my lip, seeing my own brand of loneliness reflected in his eyes. It might have been selfish, but I didn't want to be alone anymore.

Never again.

"Can I… stay here?" I squeaked. He blinked at me in mild surprise before standing up.

"If that is what you want." He sat down with his legs straight out in front of him next to the baseboard. "You can have the bed."

I shook my head gently and sat next to him, stretching my legs out before me to match his posture. "I'll stay here." Though he didn't say it, I could see the gratitude shining through his amber diamond orbs.

We were symbiotic; we leaned on one another as a crutch in away, used one another as medicine for the lost, forlorn emptiness in each of our minds.

I nodded off to the lullaby of Sesshomaru's heart beat as it pounded to the rhythm of his breathing.

…..

I opened my eyes the next morning to see Sesshomaru eyeing me in a highly uncomfortable and uneasy manner.

"What?" I mumbled, blinking up at him.

"You're…. strangling me…" he said hoarsely. I now came to realize what position my body was in.

My legs were wrapped tightly around his torso and my arms were locked around his throat as if I was a baby koala clinging to its parent. I stiffly pulled myself off him.

"Sorry…" I yawned. He cleared his throat uncomfortably, shifting a bit before standing.

"I'm going to go take a shower… unless you want the bathroom first of course." Sesshomaru offered politely.

"No," I waved him off, "you can have it. Thanks for letting me sleep in here." Sesshomaru shrugged in a somewhat embarrassed manner before leaving. I stared after him for a moment and then got up to start my day.

Tuesday passed without incident, but when Wednesday morning came, things were… weird.

Seven o'clock and Sesshomaru wasn't up. Seven thirty… eight…. Eight fifteen…

I knocked on his bedroom door, and hearing no answer, I entered. He was sitting up in bed and looking out the window with an oddly blank expression.

"Um, Sesshomaru? We're leaving in like, two minutes!" I cried, waving my arms through the air.

"I'm not coming." Sesshomaru's voice was stiff and lifeless, betraying no emotion at all.

"Wha… you're playing hooky?" I yelped. "Truant? No way!"

"I don't feel well." I became somewhat concerned now. I really wasn't experienced in this field, but I had never heard of a demon getting sick…

"W-well, alright then, be sure to rest and get well soon I suppose…" He made no reply as I closed the door to his room. Something was off with him… maybe he really was sick!

…..

The moment Rin's footsteps faded from the steps outside, Sesshomaru rose and groomed himself, brushing his hair and dressing more appropriately. A black oxford shirt and matching slacks that contrasted brilliantly with his pale skin and bright hair.

He went to the florists to pick up a bunch of roses to lie on the graves after that.

"Oh, red roses!" the pink haired flower demon commented as she bundled them together, "For someone special? Your girlfriend, maybe?"

"For special people," Sesshomaru replied flatly, "but not for a girlfriend. For a grave." The florist looked horrified and quickly shut up, handing Sesshomaru the flowers. Twenty two roses of red, and two of black.

Upon arriving at the graveyard, Sesshomaru walked a well known path, arriving at the corner solely dedicated to the dog demon clan. Every head stone had the same date of death: November 24.

Sesshomaru stood before the rows of the dead with the flowers drooping in his hand, wanting already to leave. It was painful to be here. Painful to remember all those chess games played with his uncle Gakuuto, all those friendly skirmishes with his cousin Ichiro, almost hearing Jinn's laughter echoing down the hall as she called, "Come find me, Sesshomaru! Can you? We'll see!"

Sesshomaru bowed his head with the weight of his sorrow.

"How long has it been?" He whispered, "Since I was last among my own kind?" A lone tear traced down his face as he stepped forward to lay a single red rose on each grave. He came to the final headstone, only the two black roses left in his hands.

"How goes it with you in the afterlife, Father?" He murmured to the stone. "I've found a new home now, you know? How strange that I can think of her house as 'home', when I never thought of my birthplace like that?" He gave a humorless smile before laying a black rose across the front of the grave, the only one that read 'December 27', Inuyasha's birthday.

Sesshomaru kept the other black rose clutched in his hand even as a cold gust ripped one of its petals from the whole.

"One for you, Father, and one for me that I might remember you by it. That I might remember _myself_." The boy turned away to walk back out the iron gate, passing Inuyasha on the way; They said nothing to one another until they were just beside each other and facing opposite directions.

"You observe this day as well, brother?" Sesshomaru asked quietly. Inuyasha gave a small nod.

"I come for those who died today. I'll come again for father on my birthday. I may not have known them, but they were still my family, Sesshomaru."

"Incorrect, half-breed. None of them are related to you by blood. They were my mother's family."

"Does it matter? We share blood between us, so even if we are not blood relatives, those people resting here are still connected to me."

"So be it." Sesshomaru said softly, passing Inuyasha and leaving him there in the yard full of stones.

He returned to Rin's house to find her waiting for him in anger. Well, he owed her no explanations.

After all, where he went was his business.

Too bad she didn't see it the same way….

Too be CONTINUED!

**A/N: Yeah, didn't want this chappie to get too long, so you guys'll just have to wait till next time to see Rin get pissed at Sesshy! **


	8. Chapter 8

Confession in a Freezer (could there be a weirder place?)

"_Where _were you? I thought you said you were ill!" I berated Sesshomaru as he removed his shoes by the front door. He was dressed in nice clothes for once rather than his ratty black sweatshirt.

"Nowhere in particular. And I said I didn't feel well, not that I was ill." He responded softly, twirling a black rose between his long fingers.

"You went somewhere! Why'd you skip school? And even if you _did _have to skip school for what-ever-it-was, why not just _tell_ me where you were going?" I yelled. What if he'd gone to see a girl? What if he had a girlfriend? AUGH!

"It doesn't concern you. It has nothing to do with you anyways." His voice was dull, with none of its usual snappish tone. His fingers slipped on the rose, cutting his hand on the thorns so that black demon's blood trickled slowly down the stem.

"It _does_ concern me!" I cried in exasperation. "You're living in _my _house, so I have a right to know where you went!" Please don't say you've been with a girl. Please don't tell me you've got a girlfriend.

"I went to see some graves, all right?" He yelled. This wasn't the first time I had seen him angry, and it wasn't the first time he'd been angry with me, but it was one of the scariest. "Are you happy to know that?" he hissed. Now that I looked, I could see that his eyes were rimmed red from crying and could see the mud on his shoes from the graveyards.

Dammit! That was so _tactless!_ Ah! Our first fight…

Wait, 'our first fight'? We weren't a _couple _or anything… hahahaha…

My silence must have been too long, because he pushed past me and went to his room without another word.

Crap, I must've really pissed him off… I winced as the door slammed behind him, cringing at how awkward things were going to be later. He must've had his reasons for not telling me where he was going, and I had no right to butt in like that…

Crap.

…..

Sesshomaru didn't come out of his room until the next morning when we left for school, and even then he didn't say anything to me.

The walk to school was awkward because I would say something, and he would act like I wasn't there at all, so eventually, I just stopped talking altogether.

Upon our arrival at school, a horribly familiar voice rang across the grounds.

"Sesshy-darling! I need to talk to you! _Minus _little miss flat-chested, ugly, human, repulsive Rin!" Kagura called. I seethed and started forward, but Sesshomaru put a hand to stop me. He was angry at Kagura, I could see that, I just didn't know _why._

"Go to class." He commanded quietly, "I'll catch up in a moment." I stared after him as he left, turning to go back. After all, he _had _said to…

…..

"What do you want Kagura?" Sesshomaru demanded lowly.

"To know why you turned me down!" Kagura cried unhappily. "I'm pretty, I'm a demon, and I have money to support the both of us!"

"Several things: one, you're a freaking stalker; two, I don't like you in the slightest; three, I already have someone I like. Whom you've just insulted. Which makes me _very _displeased." Sesshomaru continued flatly.

"_Rin_? You like _Rin_?" Kagura shrieked in surprise, "That filthy little dirt-poor _human_?" Sesshomaru's eyes flashed momentarily red, stopping Kagura from sullying Rin's name any further.

"You may _not _slight Rin's name, Kagura." Sesshomaru spat at her before leaving again.

"You can _have _your _Rin_, Sesshomaru." Kagura hissed. "But are you sure you'll want after I'm done?"

…..

Sesshomaru loped into class only two minutes after I sat down, and boy, he looked _pissed_.

"What happened with Kagura?" I wondered aloud.

"Nothing new. She was a freak and she pissed me off, as usual." Sesshomaru growled, despite the fact that I had meant the question to be rhetorical.

"Oh… well…" _are you happy with _anyone _right now?_ I thought, not letting those words escape my mouth. I was guessing no on that one.

Throughout the day, Sesshomaru seemed even more ill-tempered than normal, almost starting two fist fights over things that were, while not exactly trivial, were definitely not worth getting bloodied up about.

Also, Kagura kept shooting nasty glares at me, and then Sesshomaru… I really didn't like that look in her eye.

Lunch rolled around, and Sesshomaru fell asleep pretty much as soon as we sat down. Well, I _assumed_ he was asleep, because with Sesshomaru, you could never really tell. I was eating and looking at Sunshine out of lack of things to do when a voice spoke softly next to my ear.

"Hey! Rin!" It whispered. I jumped and whipped around, almost butting heads with Inuyasha as he pulled back.

"Don't _do _that!" I cried, "That scared me!" Inuyasha put a finger to his lips and gestured at Sesshomaru. "Oh, right…" I said, lowering my voice.

"Look, nothing _happened_ between you and Sesshomaru, right? Like, you didn't fight or anything, did you?" Inuyasha asked with a worried glance at his older brother. I gave the dog-eared boy a confused look.

"Well, he got mad and yelled at me when I provoked him to tell me where he went on the twenty fourth…" Inuyasha's eyes widened and he shook his head slightly.

"Look, just… leave him alone on that day at _all _costs, alright?" Inuyasha responded.

"Huh? Why?" I asked in return. Inuyasha sighed softly.

"If he didn't tell, you, he probably doesn't want you to know… but I'll tell you anyway." Inuyasha drew a deep breath and said, "That's the day when his family members were killed right in front of his ey-"

"Shut up." Sesshomaru said flatly, raising his head from where it had rested on his arms a moment before, eyes flashing dangerously. "Shut up and go away. _Now_."

Inuyasha raised his hands to chest level in an action of surrender. "Alright, sorry. Bye, Rin." Sesshomaru glued his eyes to the table, not meeting my gaze.

"Sesshomaru, why didn't you say anything?" I asked gently. He still refused to meet my eyes as he replied.

"Because it's your nature to worry about people who have been hurt; you know what they're going through. If I had told you, you would have wanted to come… I didn't want anyone there."

"I would _not _have wanted to barge in on-" I started heatedly.

"Would you have stayed at school? I think not." I bowed my head in recognition of the fact that I would most likely have gone.

"I see… I'm sorry." Sesshomaru shook his head.

"You don't need to apologize. I'm sorry I yelled at you before."

"That was partially my fault too…" I smiled. Sesshomaru shrugged, and didn't go back to sleep. For once, we held a conversation over lunch.

The lunch bell rang, and in the rush, Miroku tried to grope me again. I could see it coming, but I was powerless to stop it due to the fact that my arms were full of books. Fortunately, Sesshomaru came to my aid, grabbing Miroku's wrist.

"Remember, pervert," Sesshomaru growled lowly while Sango looked on in part amusement, part worry, "my threat still stands."

"What threat?" Sango asked curiously.

"I think he's referring to the one where he was going to remove Miroku's fingers one at a time starting at the nails so that he could never grope anyone again…" I said. Sango smiled.

"I like that one. Go ahead Sesshomaru!"

"Ah! Dearest! What are you saying! Help me!" Miroku cried. Sesshomaru released Miroku.

"I would do it, but my hands would get dirty…" Sesshomaru said in distaste, "And my hands would reek of your blood for _days_…" the tall boy heaved a sigh. "One more chance pervert… If I catch you trying to touch Rin again, I _will _follow through with that threat."

Sango laughed and grabbed Miroku's hand, pulling him through the doors. At that moment, Kagura came out of the school kitchen staggering under a pile of boxes.

"Rin!" She panted, "Take these boxes to the freezer for me, okay? Thanks!" She dropped the boxes into my arms, causing my knees to buckle and ran off. Sesshomaru took all but two boxes out of my arms.

"Let's go then…" he sighed.

We walked down to the huge school freezer and stepped inside to place the boxes. The room was well… freezing, of course.

Suddenly, the huge metal door slammed behind us and locked with a metallic clang. Sesshomaru and I turned to see Kagura's wickedly grinning face in the window.

"If you want Rin so badly, Sesshomaru," she called through the glass, "you can _have _her!"

"Damn it." Sesshomaru said simply, tossing his box to the floor. "Looks like I'll have to break the door then." He stepped forward and drove his fist into the door- or, he tried to. Just before his hand made contact, a strong, icy wind blew him back. Kagura reappeared with a sneer.

"Sorry, my wind keeps it so that the door can only open from the outside. Tata!" She gave a small wave as she left.

Sesshomaru started cursing under his breath and muttering threats that made me feel a bit sick.

For those of you who are inexperienced, school freezers take the form of a large, iron room, kept at a general temperature of ten degrees or less. For a human girl clad in high waters and a thin v-neck, things weren't looking good.

Then Sesshomaru started stripping.

Wait, that sounded weird. Sesshomaru pulled his sweatshirt over his head and tossed it at me before starting to tug off his shirt. That's what I meant.

"Wha… What are you doing?" I yelped. He looked calmly at me as he turned the T shirt right-side out and handed it to me.

"Making sure you don't freeze to death. Put them on." He said simply.

"No way!" I cried, shoving the clothing back into his arms. "If I w-wear t-those, you'll d-die!"

Sesshomaru shrugged. "I'm a demon, I can handle it. Now put them on." He gave me back the articles in his hands.

"Why w-would you d-do this for me? I m-mean, even if you are d-demon, aren't you c-cold?"

"Yes, it's a bit chilly. As to why I would do this for you…. Because I love you…." His voice trailed off momentarily, but I had already caught what he was saying.

"Wait, did y-you just say-"

"Come here!" He snapped, grabbing my wrist and dragging me forward. In less than two heartbeats, Sunshine had me in both his shirt and his jacket, with the sleeves of the aforementioned clothing wrapped around behind me and tied like a straightjacket.

"Okay, the straightjacket thing is a bit over board Sunshine. Please untie me."

"Only if you promise not to take it off." Sesshomaru pouted like a sulky child.

"I promise…" I sighed, relenting and trying to keep my eyes off his body. He spun me around and released my bonds, allowing my arms to fall forward to my side. He walked over to an empty space on the floor and sat, motioning for me to do the same.

I consented and sat a few inches away from him. The tall boy quickly scooted over so his body was pressed against mine.

"To preserve body heat." He said.

"About a few moments ago… did you say that you loved… me?" I asked timidly.

"If you heard what I said, don't make me repeat it…" he replied irritably. I smiled, wrapping my arms around him.

"I love you too, Sunshine." Despite the fact that we were in a freezer, my heart was exuding a warm glow.

And then Sesshomaru did something that all at once freaked me out and made me want to jump for joy.

He _smiled_.

…

Time passed slowly, and I felt myself growing sleepy. Upon checking my watch, I found that we had been in that room for over five hours.

I began to nod off, my head leaning against Sesshomaru's chest.

When he thought I was asleep, he leaned forward and kissed my forehead. As he pulled back, I leaned upward and found his cheek without opening my eyes. I felt him go still as I slumped back, and that's all I remember before sleep over came my consciousness.

**A/N: Thank you guys so much for all your reviews! I've almost his 100! Only four more reviews to go before I hit triple digits… (hint hint)**

** Next chapter will be titled 'Dog Demons on Bed Rest 101'… Hope you don't die Sesshomaru!**

**Sessh- Wait, WHAT?**

**Rin- 0_0**

**M.S.: Don't worry, only kidding… if you died, the story would suck! XD In any case…. **

**Rin and Sessh- REVIEW PLEASE! **


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Someone requested Rin get hypothermia so Sesshy flips out, but don't worry… when Sessh thinks Rin is dead toward the end of the story, that would be much more- **

**AH! I let that secret slip! You aren't supposed to know that! EEP!**

Dog Demons on Bed Rest 101

I woke up, blinking slightly in the blue half-light that reflected dully off the ice and iron. Despite my surroundings, I was quite warm, snuggled deeply into Sesshomaru's too-big jacket; my hands were lost in the sleeves, and my neck was wrapped in the folds of the hood. Being as short as I was, the sweatshirt fell to my mid thigh, but with my feet folded under me as they were, my entire body was kept warm.

I glanced over at Sesshomaru, seeing that he had his arms crossed over his chest and his head lowered over them, eyes closed. I smirkingly poked him in the arm, but recoiled at how cold his flesh was, shocked.

Sesshomaru's eyelids fluttered momentarily, before he tried to speak.

"Lemmee… sleepa…" I translated this to 'Let me sleep,' and gave him a worried look, quickly going over the hypothermic symptoms in my head: Shivering up to a certain point (when body temperature dropped to much, all motion ceased and the subject fell into a coma-like trance), slurred speech, clumsiness or uncoordinated movements, difficulty in thinking, irrational decision making, apathy, low energy and/or drowsiness, loss of consciousness, shallow breathing and weak pulse.

I began to check for these signs in Sesshomaru. Prying open one of his eyes, I noticed that his gaze was unfocused and glazed; I could barely see the movement in his chest to indicate breathing. Slurred speech was already evident, as was clumsiness as he tried to push me off him, missing completely.

"Yourskin is… burningRin…" he mumbled.

"No," I replied, "your skin is frozen. I thought you said you could take more because you were a demon!" I cried out of fear for his health… or even his life. A small, sardonic smirk graced his lips.

"I lied so youwood putton the jacket. Kinda stupid on my part…" I now noticed that his lips were tinged blue, as were the tips of his fingers, no, now they were turning gray… _not _a good sign.

"Yeah, _really _stupid on your part!" I yelled, wrapping my arms around him. His heartbeat was slow and faint, like it was going to give out at any second.

"You're on fire…" Sesshomaru muttered uncomfortably, squirming to get away from the heat of my skin. I simply clung on tighter.

"School will be starting soon." I whispered comfortingly, "Someone will find us. I'm sure of it."

"That's… goo…d…" Sesshomaru sighed, slumping forward. I looked up at him to see that he was unconscious, evidently exhausted from his fight with the cold.

I wanted to cry, but didn't. If I cried, the tears would freeze on my face, making it even harder to keep warm. I buried my face in Sesshomaru's icy chest to try and keep out the tears, jumping as the door to the freezer hissed open, releasing a bout of mist when the warm outside air collided with the cold within.

"The hell?" Inuyasha yelped, jumping back and dropping his cargo of boxes as he saw us. "Rin, what the… you gave me a freaking heart attack! What the heck are you freaks doing in the freezer? Where is Sesshomaru's shirt, and why are you looking at me and… cry….ing…. NO CRYING!" He cried, looking at me fearfully. "Definitely no crying!"

"Inuyasha! You found us! At last! Help me get Sesshomaru out of here, he needs medical attention!" I yelled at him.

"Wha…. Medical attention? Why?" Inuyasha asked, ears twitching curiously.

"Look, we've been in here for over eighteen hours, alright? Freaking Kagura locked us in, Sesshomaru gave me his clothes to keep me warm, and now he's dying of hypothermia, alright? So help me get him _the hell out of here!_"

Inuyasha jogged over and stretched out to grab Sesshomaru under the arm. Upon touching his older brother, he jerked back with a cry. "He's colder than the air! His skin has gotta be like, minus two degrees or somthin'!"

"I _kn-ow!_" I shouted. "So that's why we need an _ambulance_!"

Inuyasha edged over and hoisted Sesshomaru up, wrapping the taller boy's arm around his own neck to take out some of the weight.

After dragging Sesshomaru most of the way, Inuyasha collapsed onto a low-set wall, panting.

"All… right… I got his fat… ass up here…. Now what?" he huffed. I ran to the office, choosing to ignore the fact that Inuyasha called Sesshomaru fat.

I called an ambulance, explained the situation etcetera… Sesshomaru was diagnosed with mild hypothermia, and had to stay at the hospital _in bed _for three whole days.

Yippie.

….

"Is he still pissed off?" Inuyasha asked with a sigh, entering the hospital room with his hands in his pockets. Sesshomaru shot him a glare.

"I haven't _pissed _anywhere, thank you very much." He spat.

"Yup," Inuyasha said appraisingly, "he's still pissed."

"How soon do I get out of here again?" Sesshomaru asked me impatiently.

"Two more days, Sunshine. You have two more days." I replied patiently.

"Damn it." Sesshomaru cursed.

"I brought a chess board… wanna play, big bro?" Inuyasha asked teasingly.

"I'll play. You and your tiny white chess men will be crushed in moments." Sesshomaru growled, as if he were really going into battle with Inuyasha as he adversary. The dog-eared boy brought out a bag of carved stone pieces and a wooden board, dropping them on the bed.

"Separate your pieces you pure-blood bastard. We'll see how this game plays out." Inuyasha shot back. I blinked at them. They sure did take their games seriously, now didn't they? After several moments, it became obvious who was going to win.

"Check." Sesshomaru rumbled in his monotone.

"Damn!" Inuyasha yelled as Sesshomaru took his rook and threw the tiny castle. It embedded itself in the wall, castle part first. Inuyasha moved his knight, and that was taken by Sesshomaru's bishop. Again, the white playing piece flew through the air and stuck in the wall.

"_Must _you throw them like that? I mean, can't you just put them in the bag?" I proffered the red velvet bag, hoping he would place the newly capture pawn inside. He glanced at the bag, and then took aim with the pawn as if it were a dart, flinging it so that it struck a stain on the ceiling.

"It's amusing." He said flatly, sounding anything but amused. "Checkmate."

"Gahhhhh!" Inuyasha screamed, slamming his face into the bed. "I can't _believe _I lost to _you_!"

"I can." Sesshomaru said blandly. "Did you bring anything else?"

"You could do homework…?" I offered. He stared at me.

"What the hell? No way!"

"Here" Inuyasha snapped, tossing Sesshomaru a gameboy. "Mario Kart. I _know_ I can beat you at this! I'm the best at video games!"

"Only because you don't have a life and are forced to spend your Saturdays in your basement with your pet rock and an X-box." Sesshomaru replied calmly. Inuyasha opened his mouth to retort, but I cut him off.

"Ohh!" I butted in, "I play winner!"

"Fine." The brothers said in unison, already into their game. Inuyasha was biting his tongue, moving back and forth as he tried to steer, while Sesshomaru was sitting stock-still, totally deadpan.

"Come on… come on…." Inuyasha hissed, pressing the x button multiple times. "Speed boost… turtle shell… DIRECT HIT! In your FACE bastard! I passed the finish line first!"

"Hn?" Sesshomaru grunted, "Did not."

"Don't be a sore loser, I did _so_!" Inuyasha taunted, "You lost to me, big brother! Admit it!"

"No, you misunderstand… I've been across the finish line for quite a while now… I overlapped you twice while you were stuck on that bridge and continually falling off of it…" Sesshomaru gave a yawn of boredom. "Your turn A-cup." Inuyasha gave me the gameboy with a 'hmph', crossing his arms and looking away.

I grinned at Sesshomaru, flicking the game switch to 'on' and began the race. Sure, we were acting like little kids, but it was fun!

Kagome suddenly opened the door just as I lost my third round against Sesshomaru.

"_Who _is it that doesn't have a life?" Inuyasha asked, "If you have a life, why are you so good at video games?"

"I'm naturally better at everything compared to you." Sesshomaru mocked.

"Why you…!" Inuyasha launched forward, trying to hit Sesshomaru. Sunshine calmly put out one hand, hitting Inuyasha in the face and holding him at arms' length while the half-breed struggled to make contact.

"You shouldn't attack your elders and betters, little brother. Also, I'm ill, so that makes your attack on me twice as heinous." Sesshomaru scolded blankly while examining his nails on the other hand. Kagome cleared her throat and we all looked up at her.

"I've got good news and bad news…. Which do you want first?"

"Bad news." We all said in unison. Inuyasha and Sesshomaru exchanged glances as if they couldn't believe they were agreeing on something.

"Okay well the good news is…" Kagome began.

"Kagura got hit by a bus and died?" Sesshomaru cut in.

"Jakotsu finally molested Koga to the point where that stupid wolf changed schools?" Inuyasha interrupted.

"Christmas was moved to July? But it's not Christmas… and it's not July…" I said sadly. The rest of them looked at me like I was an idiot.

"Anyway, none of those… Sesshomaru gets out of the hospital a day early." Kagome finished.

"Yay." Sesshomaru said in bored tones.

"How is that a _good _thing?" Inuyasha screeched. I laughed at their totally different personalities.

"Well what's the _bad _news?" Sesshomaru asked.

"Kagura now wants to kill Rin because it is somehow _her _fault that you got hypothermia… I mean, what the heck? _Kagura _locked you in a freezer, not _Rin_, so I really don't follow that wind lady's logic…" Kagome mused. I blinked. I didn't follow Kagura's train of thought either! How was it _my _fault?

"Well, next time I see Kagura, someone remind me that homicide is against the law please." Sesshomaru snorted. "If she so much as lays a finger on Rin, I may have to introduce her brains to the concrete." Kagome and I winced at that threat, just a little grossed out by that image. Inuyasha grinned however.

"Oh wouldn't that be _great_? Just add that bastard Naraku to the mix and divorce his head from his shoulders and the world would be freaking _perfect_!" The boy cried, ears twitching.

"Alright, that's gross; I'm changing the subject now!" I announced. The boys gave me a disgruntled look, as if they truly enjoyed discussing such violent methods. "So this means you get out tomorrow, Sunshine!" Sesshomaru seemed to brighten minimally at my words.

"Hah, I guess two days are better than three… but this still sucks." He growled.

"I know…" I sighed. "Just hang out and like, sleep the whole time or something."

"Yeah right." Sesshomaru grunted. "As if I could sleep in a place that reeks of blood and medicine and death."

"Yep, I'm one hundred percent with you on that one… and that's why I'm leaving. Bye!" Inuyasha called over his shoulder as he left. Kagome followed, and only moments later, a nurse came in to tell me that visiting hours were over. Sesshomaru stared after me like a sad puppy as I waved to him through the glass.

"You'll come back tomorrow, right?" He mouthed. I nodded and smiled at him, promising my return.

….

The day Sesshomaru was release from the hospital, he sprang out of bed, dressed in his own clothes and dashed out the front door, practically dragging me along. The moment we were outside he gasped in a huge breath.

"Air!" He cried, "Fresh _air_!"

We got home in record time, thanks to Sesshomaru running the whole way with me on his back. He opened the door and tossed himself onto the couch, burying his face in the cushions.

"I'm home." He said happily, "Home."

I had to smile at that. Sesshomaru had finally accepted my house as his dwelling, and that meant more to me than I could express in words.

"Yeah," I replied softly, "We're home."

**A/N: Haha, Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter…**

** I'll be going to camp on Wednesday, so don't expect another chapter until next Saturday. Wish me luck on my SAT's! :( I'm really confused, cause I'm just a freshman, and yet I have to take and SAT… I scored higher than most sophomores on the PSAT though, so I'm not too worried… nervous? Yes. Worried? Not really.**

** Thank you for reading again… and I thank you all for reviewing! I currently have 111 reviews… So thanks so much!**

**I wuv you guys! :3**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Yeah, I know that the last authors note was a lie… that last chapter was SUPPOSED to have been posted a LONG TIME AGO… I already got back from camp, and went paintballing too. Word of advice… don't let people use you as a decoy. You get shot. And it hurts. Sometimes. And the paint tastes **_**really**_** nasty if you get it in your mouth. I don't advise that either. Oh, and thanks for your encouragement on those tests, I think I did pretty well! Enjoy!**

"Ah, cleavage," Miroku sighed, "the only thing you can look down on and approve of at the same time."

"Would you like me to extend the 'finger threat' to your eyeballs, monk?" Sesshomaru asked angrily. The black-haired boy quickly looked away as I gave him a disgruntled look and pulled up my v-neck sweater.

Sesshomaru had returned to school two days ago, and promptly had to be restrained by Inuyasha, Koga, Jinenji, Shiori, Kagome, Ayame and Sango before he stopped trying to take Kagura's face off with his claws.

I have to admit, it was pretty funny. A low growl rumbled in his chest and I could feel it vibrating the table as the dog demon gave his death-glare to Miroku. I had to stifle a grin at this. Ever since the freezer thing, Sesshomaru had been much more protective of me than before.

"Oh look," Kagura sneered from behind me as I was sitting at the lunch tables, "Enjoying yourself, you little slut?" Sesshomaru's bass snarl deepened as he turned around to face her.

Beside Kagura was a tall boy with the same red eyed, black haired combination as Kagura, a freshman boy with shimmering pink hair and purple eyes, and Juromaru, who now that I looked, had a strong resemblance to the freshman, as well as Kanna.

"You better shut up Kagura. No one is close enough to keep me from tearing you to shreds this time." Sesshomaru snapped.

"Try that on my sister and I'll rip your head off." The boy behind Kagura hissed.

"I got your back Sessh. I'll take Naraku if you get Kagura." Inuyasha inputted, glaring angrily at Naraku, who stuck out his tongue in defiance.

"Agreed." Sesshomaru said grimly, mouth set in a thin line as he stood. I simply watched. When the pair of them was in the mood to fight, there was no stopping those silver haired demons.

Juromaru began to leak silver fluid from the corner of his mouth that looked rather like mercury before Naraku put out a hand to stop him.

"I'd like to enjoy myself. Juromaru, Hakudoshi, Kanna, get the hell out of here before this fight starts. If you stay, I'll tear you to pieces right along with these bastards." Naraku narrowed his eyes at Inuyasha and Sesshomaru as he said this.

Sesshomaru was clenching and unclenching his fists as his he could hardly wait to get to Kagura.

"Oh darling," Kagura said in poisoned-honey tones, "Are you really going to hit a girl?"

"You're a demon; you should be able to take it!" Sesshomaru yelled, launching forward. His movement signified the start of the fight, and in an instant, Naraku and Inuyasha were grappling on the ground while Sesshomaru and Kagura were trading blows more cautiously, reading their opponents movements.

An excited crowd gathered to watch; why they were enjoying it, I don't know. Things were looking pretty ugly. It was hard to see, but both Naraku and Inuyasha were bleeding from their nose or mouth and Sesshomaru and Kagura were shouting curses and threats at each other and preparing for the next opening. Among the four of them, Kagura looked the worst, with a swollen cut under one eye and a bruise developing on her wrist from blocking Sesshomaru's hits. Sesshomaru looked a bit worse for wear, a black eye slowly coming to light and his fangs bloody from a cut on the inside of his mouth.

"I already know why Sesshomaru and Kagura are pissed off at each other, but what's up with Naraku and Inuyasha?" I asked Miroku.

"Girl problems. They both liked the same girl, but the girl liked Inuyasha. Naraku became a stalker and Kikyo became so freaked out she killed herself. Thus, Inuyasha hates Naraku, Naraku hates Inuyasha and Kagome is jealous about Kikyo." He replied over the roar of the crowd.

"Wait, why would she be jealous over someone who _died_?" I called to him.

"Cause Inuyasha never really got over Kik- Oh crap." I turned to follow his gaze and saw Principal Midoriko glowering at the still oblivious fighters. One wave of her hand and a barrier was erected to stop the blows. Anyone could see that Midoriko was pissed.

"My office." She gritted out, "Now." All four demons shot each other angry glances that quickly shifted to uneasy fear. When you're a demon, having a principal that can turn your soul to dust in the blink of an eye is generally a bad thing.

….

Naraku and Kagura had already been talked to and left, Inuyasha and Sesshomaru having just entered the office as Miroku and I arrived with Kagome and Sango. Even outside the office, I could feel Midoriko's strong purifying aura.

The powerful priestess's aura had been known to make a few weaker demons puke, make some of the middle class demons nauseous, and make several upper class demons like Inuyasha and Sesshomaru feel extremely uneasy about their surroundings. This was shown in Sesshomaru's white-knuckled grip on the arm of his chair and Inuyasha's twitching ears and wide eyes.

"Boys," Midoriko began calmly as I leaned close to her office window to hear, "do you know why you're here?"

"Feh." Inuyasha snorted.

"Of course." Sesshomaru growled, "For fighting."

"Yes, Murakami and Murakami." She replied, "Fighting. Which I'm sure both of you know is prohibited seeing as I've given you both this lecture more times than I can count." At this point, Sesshomaru seemed to begin turning her out. "I've noticed a drop in Sesshomaru's office visits, but an increase in yours, Inuyasha. Will you _listen _to me, Murakami?"

"I'm listening, I swear!" Inuyasha cried earnestly.

"No, no, I'm talking to your older brother." Midoriko said exasperatedly.

"Hn?" Sesshomaru snapped out of his daze, focusing on the principal now.

"I think the reason for Inuyasha's behavioral decline is a bad influence from you." Midoriko said.

"Haaaah?" Inuyasha cried in surprise, "If that were true, wouldn't you see Rin, like, _every day_? I mean, she freakin' _lives _with him so…" Sesshomaru shot Inuyasha a glance I very easily read as, 'dude, shut the hell up before you say something stupid… oh, too late, dumbass!' "Oh, was that a…" he the half-demon lowered his voice to a whisper, "secret?" Sesshomaru responded with a low growl and one of his favorite death glares.

"Rin? Another student? Male or female?" Midoriko asked due to the fact that my name can be used on both sexes. For boys is means 'park' and for girls it means 'ice cold'. Ah the irony…

"Female." Sesshomaru bit out through clenched teeth, giving Inuyasha a look that even he could read as, 'I'm _so _gonna kick your ass when we get out of here.' Inuyasha gave a nervous laugh.

"What is your relationship with Ms. Rin?" Midoriko questioned.

"Girlfriend I suppose." Sesshomaru responded dully, "not officially." I could have screamed in delight. Though I doubt he knew I was listening.

"Officially or _not _you know that sort of thing is against the rules!" Midoriko yelled.

"Oh sure," Sesshomaru shot back, "Let me go find my box on the corner then. I'm sure no one has taken is yet, I made sure everyone there knew it was mine!"

"What are you talking about, boy? You're living with your mom, correct?" Midoriko queried angrily.

"I _was _until there was a mutual, 'I'm running away,' 'Oh no you can't because I'm kicking you out!' kind of fight. I don't live with her anymore." Sesshomaru replied fiercely. Midoriko sighed massaged her temples.

"Fine. Just… fine. I'm letting you off the hook today, _don't let it happen again_, understand?"

"Yes ma'am!" Inuyasha said quickly, scrambling out of the room.

"Hn." Sesshomaru indistinctly answered, shoving his hands into his pockets as he left.

"Holy _crap_, that was scarier than usual!" Inuyasha complained in a faintly trembling tone. Sesshomaru simply rolled his eyes and headed for the door. As we walked back to the lunch room, I decided to bring something up that both of us had been avoiding.

"Hey Sunshine, you know when we were in that freezer…?"

"Hn."

"And I fell asleep on your arm…?"

"Hn." The rest of the group was listening in now, but I paid them no mind.

"Do you always touch me when I sleep?" Sesshomaru stiffened and Miroku bounded forward excitedly.

"Welcome to the Perverts club Sessho-buddy!" the black haired boy cried, clapping Sesshomaru on the shoulder. Sesshomaru pushed him away without looking.

"Don't put me in the same league as you, perv." Looking back at me, he replied blankly, though I could see the hint of nervousness in his eyes. "Sometimes…. Why?"

"Just wondered…" I suddenly leaned up and kissed him. There was a universal gasp in the hallway. "Now I can say I kissed you while I was awake!" Sesshomaru seemed to be in shock because he was just staring at me with his happiness shining through his eyes like little windows full of warm candlelight in a blank-faced house.

"Oh my… what the _hell_? Did you just get kissed by your girlfriend and/or landlady? No fair! Kagome! Come here! I wanna try that!" Inuyasha called. Kagome backed away a bit.

"Oh no, don't you get any ideas mister!" Kagome shrieked, beginning to run back down the hall.

"Awwww…" Inuyasha complained, "How come my bastard of a brother can get his girlfriend to kiss him?"

"Hey Sango… how 'bout us?" Miroku asked innocently, inching his hand over to her butt. Sango pinched his hand and removed it from her vicinity.

"Not now, not until two things happen. You stop womanizing, and you brush your teeth." Miroku shook his head sadly.

"How do you keep your breath fresh Sesshomaru? Tell me your secret! Maybe _then _Sango will want to kiss me."

"My fangs are coated in venom," Sesshomaru said, baring his teeth to show off the hooked canines, "the venom kills everything it touches, bacteria included."

"So it's like the ultimate Germ-X!" I said in surprise. Sesshomaru shook his head at me.

"No, more like acid. It eats away at virtually everything. If I were to lick a wall, it would have a hole in it in under ten seconds." He replied grimly.

"Ohhhhh…." I gasped, "That's handy!"

"Not really," Sesshomaru shrugged, "It's kind of a nuisance actually… I mean, I can't eat a lollypop… or lick the frosting off a cup cake… etcetera. Luckily, as far as I know, getting it in _other _people's mouths is okay. Otherwise, you would have died by now, Rin."

"Wow… I never thought of that." I furrowed my eyebrows. "Yeah, I guess you're right!" The bell rang at that point, and we all scattered, gathering our books before heading to Yura's class.

The rest of school passed quickly enough, and I hummed to myself as I packed up my things out of my locker.

"Say, a-cup…" Sesshomaru began.

"Yeah?"

"Instead of going home today, can I take you to like, a cake shop or something?" the silver-haired demon asked tentatively.

"Like a date?" I cried eagerly.

"I-I guess so." Sesshomaru said nervously rubbing the back of his head.

"Hell yeah! Let's go!" I yelped, grabbing his hand and heading for the door.

This was going to be fun.

My first date with Sesshomaru… actually, my first date _ever_.

**A/N: Muahahahahah! Cliffy-sorta-not-really! Thank you for all your wonderful reviews! I'm happy to know you all are enjoying the story that much! XD Review please! Suggestions are accepted, I'm running out of ideas for awkward situations… if I don't get one, we may have to reintroduce Sessho-mom, which would spell 'THE END' for this story. Mind you, I'll only take about three ideas before I actually have to get back to the story line and really bring the Sessho-mom back XD**


	11. Chapter 11

I Learn That Sesshomaru Hates Roller Coasters

I dragged Sesshomaru across the school grounds happily while listening to his stuttered protests.

"Rin- ow! Hey, Rin! I-I'm gunna t-trip if you pull me like- ah! Rin, let go! Hey, are you even listening to me- dammit! Ow!" He cried as he tripped along behind me. I halted suddenly and almost fell over as the seven foot tall boy slammed into my back.

"Riiin!" Shiori yelled from behind us. I turned, with a smile. Shiori was a quiet but very kind girl with a slight phobia of bats, spiders, and Sesshomaru. She halted before us with a nervous look at Sesshomaru's disgruntled face as he brushed a bit of dust off the knee of his jeans, muttering to himself.

"U-um… Well, I have this pair of theme park tickets that expire tonight, and I was, um, wondering if you could, um, use them… I can't, because, um, I'm going to see my grandpa today with my mom…" the dark skinned half demon said awkwardly, shooting a glance at Sesshomaru with every 'um,' before quickly looking back at me when she met the dog demon's hard amber gaze. I gasped even as Sesshomaru growled.

"Of course! We can use them now, right Sesshomaru?" I squealed.

"If that's what you want…" Sesshomaru said, looking taken aback.

"Yay! I _love _you Shiori!" I gave the girl a quick hug before she left. "AMUSEMENT PARK TIME!" I shriek, once again dragging Sesshomaru.

…..

"Oh damn." Sesshomaru cussed from the front of the roller coaster, looking down at the seemingly mile long drop before us. I clutched his arm tightly as the car gave a lurch forward. "Oh damn. Oh damn. Oh da- !" His words protracted into a cry as we dropped at high speed, his hood flying off to release his silver hair to the wind. I clung even tighter to Sunshine's arm and screamed.

Our descent slowed, but I kept my grip on Sesshomaru. When the car stopped, I looked at Sesshomaru's stunned face and ruffled appearance and started laughing hysterically.

"You scream like I girl!" I giggled. Sesshomaru gave me a reproachful look.

"Yeah, well you scream like a man, A-cup. An _old _man!" He shot back. I punched him in the arm as we got out.

"I'm serious though, that's like, the first time _ever _that I've seen you look even remotely close to panicking." I told him.

"I wasn't scared!" He defended.

"I never said you were! But you saying that kind of proves me right~"

"Oh shut up…" he muttered.

"LETS GO ON THAT ONE!" I screamed in excitement, pointing toward a neon purple coaster that dropped its victims backwards down a five hundred foot drop before plummeting into an underground tunnel system that dumped the rapidly rotating carts out into a pool after a pitch-black plunge down a waterfall.

"Oh no…" groaned Sesshomaru, "Fine. But _I'm _picking the next ride!"

….

When we got off of that ride, titled 'Tidal Wave', the pair of us were distinctly more wet and cold. I myself was shivering a bit. Sesshomaru stopped and looked in the window of a gift shop before telling me to stay where I was and going inside. After a minute he came back out with a puppy patterned towel and draped it over my head, mussing up my hair.

"Dry off before you catch a cold A-cup; If you get sick, you'll probably die just 'cause I'm so clueless on what to do with sick people…" He gave me a small smile of ironic humor; I replied with an enormous grin before wrapping myself in the cloth.

"What ride do _you _want Sesshomaru? You said you wanted to pick this one out." I reminded him. He put one pale finger to lips in thought, narrowing his eyes and sifting through the attractions around us. His amber gaze suddenly lit upon a Ferris wheel that was moderately close by.

"We'll go on something _relaxing _that _won't _have a risk of crashing and dying at a hundred miles per hour!" he said, indicating the huge wheel.

"If you're referring to the roller coaster, it's not 'a hundred miles per hour,' it's a hundred and fifty." I snorted. Sesshomaru rolled his eyes.

"Yeah. Cause that is _so _much better. Come on…" He grabbed my hand as we began walking toward the ride. The line was short, and we were able to get on quickly. Even though he had no reason to continue holding my hand, Sesshomaru didn't let go. When he laced his fingers through mine, my heart just about stopped. Something about his smirk made me think that he could hear my heart…. That was pretty embarrassing to think about.

We got into a blood-red, circular capsule and sat across from each other as the ride began to rise. For a few moments, Sesshomaru just stared out at the orange and pink sunset. The golden light bathing his face gave it a surreal glow and I had the horrible but momentary feeling that at any minute he would disappear and leave me alone with my emptiness again.

But the moment faded when Sesshomaru looked up at me with warm eyes.

"You know what people say about this Ferris wheel?" He asked softly, "If you kiss at the top, you'll be with that person forever. Would you like that?" His voice had died to a whisper as he leaned closer to me. I nodded with wide eyes.

_Forever is a long time._ I thought, _But if it's with Sesshomaru, I'm sure even forever will seem like a split second._

His lips met mine just as we reached the peak of the highest point, a place where it seemed that the whole world was spread out at our feet, a place where it seemed that we could do anything and everything, a place where it was just us, where we didn't have to worry about Sesshomaru's mother or anyone else.

Just us.

…

Back on the ground, I felt lightheaded with happiness, and even though the sun was almost gone I felt a warm glow that probably came from my own personal Sunshine. Yes, my world really did revolve around Sesshomaru.

The park was beginning to close down, so we ambled to the front gate, still holding hands. Sesshomaru's silver hair was lying back flat now, and strands floated along by themselves, giving the dreamy impression that he was in a light breeze. He glanced at me with a small smile and brushed my hair out of my eyes.

"You have very soft hair, Rin." He commented lightly. I blushed. I wondered why. I never usually got embarrassed around him. Oh well.

We boarded the bus together that would take us back within walking distance of our home. I loved thinking that. 'Our home.'

The bus ride seemed short as I nodded off against Sunshine's arm. It really was comfortable there, just leaning against him like that.

But alas, the ride ended, and I had to stand up. The moment we got out of the bus, a shrill and rather unpleasant voice grated on my eardrums. It apparently had the same affect on Sesshomaru, who winced at the sound.

"Master! Master Sesshomaru!" It cried. Sesshomaru leaned close to me without turning around.

"Don't make eye contact, let me do the talking." He muttered. He pivoted slowly on his heel to see a small, green, toad-like imp looking admiringly up at him. I turned with him, not letting go of his hand.

"Jaken." Sesshomaru's voice had become ice cold again. He never used that tone with me anymore. In fact, it was the tone that he specially reserved for people like Kagura and his mother.

"Master Sesshomaru! I found you!" the imp latched on to Sesshomaru's ankle. The dog demon kicked off Jaken with a disgusted look.

"Sesshomaru," I said to him, "don't be mean to the… thing." The toad gave me a glare.

"How dare you disrespect my master by saying his name so casually with your unworthy, human tongue you b-" WHACK. The toad cut off as Sesshomaru brought his foot across Jaken's face. Bending down, Sesshomaru picked up the imp by the back of its robe.

"You _dare _to say a word to my selected mate?" Sesshomaru snarled in Jaken's wide eyed face. Jaken seemed to take a moment to collect either his voice or thoughts. Perhaps both.

"Y-your s-selected mate, my lord? O-oh… the m-mistress will be v-very displeased that y-you have ch-chosen a h-human m-mate… Mistress s-sent me to tell you t-to come h-home im-immediately." The toad stuttered.

"Mistress?" I asked.

"My mother." Sesshomaru replied tonelessly. Turning back to Jaken, he dropped his servant on the ground without mercy. "And tell mom I said, 'Hell no.'." Sesshomaru turned around to leave, and I followed his example.

"B-but master!" Jaken called after us, "Mistress says that if you don't return soon, she'll…"

"Don't wanna hear it, Jaken! Cause no matter what it is, _I'm not going back_." Sesshomaru spat.

"But it's your home, my lord!"

"Wrong." Sesshomaru shot back, "Wrong. I have a new home. One that lacks constant pain, Jaken. Follow me, and I'll dismember you. Good night." Sunshine walked away for real this time, leaving the toad stricken on the side walk.

I stared at Sesshomaru, admiring how strong his resolve was. Surely, if it were me, I would have gone back home with the slightest persuasion. Then again, I had parents who loved me, not a mother who tried to throttle me almost daily.

We arrived home at last, and I went to take a shower, thinking things over. Today had been brilliant. My first date, an entirely new experience, something that was novel to me. I loved it. Most likely because it was with Sesshomaru. Repeat the day with say, Naraku, and that trip would have been a nightmare rather than a dream for me.

I smiled to myself as I rinsed the shampoo from my black tresses. Sesshomaru had asked me if I wanted to stay with him forever. Obviously it was what he wanted, otherwise he wouldn't have asked, and he wouldn't have kissed me at the top of that Ferris wheel.

I stepped out of the shower and dried off slowly, and then headed back to my room when I saw the strip of light shining under Sesshomaru's door to indicate that he was in his own bedroom.

I entered my room, wringing my damp hair in my towel as I approached the bed. I was about to sit down when I saw a small red box on my pillow with the words '_For A-cup' _scrawled across the top in Sesshomaru's handwriting.

I opened the box and out fell a gold necklace with a sun charm on the end.

"Sunshine," I whispered to myself as I watched the light glint off the emblem. I quickly clipped the necklace around my neck, admiring its beauty.

Never had I felt such a strong desire to last eternity with any one person as I felt in that moment.

Yes, my world really _did _revolve around the sun. _My _sun. My Sunshine.

**A/N: Hey! I took a few of your guy's ideas and mingled them… thanks for the input guys! This was a somewhat pointless chapter as far as moving the plot forward, but I hope you like it nonetheless! Please review, input for the next chapter is welcome XD**

**Thanks for reading!**


	12. Chapter 12

Why Nosebleeds are a Wonderful Thing

I woke up with the feeling that yesterday had all been a dream. Frantically I searched for the necklace chain around my neck and felt a profound sense of relief when it was still there. Feeling like an idiot, I clambered out of bed and threw on my bath robe, the smell of coffee filling the air.

The first thing I saw was Sesshomaru sitting at the table in a t-shirt and boxers, his hair messed up and a cup of coffee in front of him as he poured over our history book, occasionally scrawling notes into a black bound notebook.

"What'cha doin'?" I asked as I sat down with my own cup o' joe. Sesshomaru glanced up and gave that small smile I had come know and love.

"You're wearing the necklace. Do you like it?" he asked.

"Of course I do! Hell, you could have given me a pair of socks and I would have liked them just because they were from you!" I cried. His smile widened.

"Tell me that next time, socks would be cheaper!" I laughed, but then looked back at his books.

"But really, what are you doing? You didn't answer." I pointed out. Sesshomaru sighed.

"While I am entirely adverse to homework, I'm more against having to repeat the grade… so I have to do just enough work to pass." He replied lazily. I snorted at him. I myself was a high B low A student…

Sesshomaru went back to his work. Elsewhere, a much darker morning was beginning to spread.

…..

_THUD_!

"What do you _mean _he _refused_?" Fuyuko screamed at Jaken as the toad recovered from the resounding kick that his mistress had landed on his head. Seriously, between Sesshomaru and Fuyuko, Jaken was surprised that his brain was still one piece. Perhaps due to his thick skull?

"W-well, Mistress, the Lord was with a human woman whom he said was… was his…" Jaken gulped. "Selected mate?" he squeaked the last words in terror. Strangely, Fuyuko ceased her ravings and gave a fanged smile.

"I guess that means that it is about time to follow through with my threat, wouldn't you say, Jaken? I _did _tell him not to get too attached to anything mortal, didn't I? If he never wanted anything, he would never have to taste that bitter disappointment when he lost the object of his affections." For a moment, Fuyuko's gold eyes were filled with sanity and sorrow mixed with a bit of remorse and pity. Then she tossed her silver hair out of her eyes with an insane laugh. "Oh well!" she shrieked, "He'll learn soon enough!"

Jaken cringed as her mad laughter continued. This was one of the Mistress' off days. The toad gulped again. How pleased he was at this moment that he wasn't in Sesshomaru's shoes.

…

The class gasped in shock, utter, absolute _shock _when Sesshomaru walked in that morning. Because he was displaying that small, rare smile of his when he came in.

The smile none of them had ever seen because they had never bothered to look past Sesshomaru's tough exterior to see the lonely boy within; none of them had ever had time to listen to his story; they never talked _to _him, but _of _him.

However, the moment Sesshomaru noticed they were staring at him, his smile changed to a dark glare.

"What the hell are _you _punks looking at?" he asked. The class busily went back to whatever they were doing to avoid Sesshomaru's look.

"Yeesh!" I hissed to him under my breath, "No need to be _that _mean about it!"

"Of course it is." Sunshine replied, "I have a reputation to uphold!" I laughed at him before sitting down. Koga turned around and gave me a suggestive wink while Sesshomaru was bent under the desk digging through his bag for his school books.

"Things going well with your boyfriend?" he asked with a sly grin, "That's the happiest I've seen Sesshomaru in, well, _ever_. Not that that's saying much, cause- OOO! Shiny!" The wolf was momentarily distracted by the shine of my gold necklace.

"Ahem." Mr. Goto cleared his throat from the front of the class, calling us to attention. "I would like you all to split into groups. For a small social exercise, you will each be playing a five minute round of charades. I hope you can get all of your energy out before the test. Begin."

Our group turned out to be me, Sesshomaru, Koga, Ayame, and Juromaru. Koga kept giving the pale haired boy side long, mistrustful looks as we began. Sesshomaru went up and drew a slip of paper out of the suggestion box. He grimaced at it while returning.

"Alright…" he sighed, "Here we go." He put out his arms to either side of him and pretended to fly like an airplane. I started cracking up while Koga deftly guessed a jet plane. Koga began to mime… something. Actually, he looked like he was having a seizure.

Incidentally, Koga's arm flew askew and hit me in the face. My eyes teared up involuntarily as blood began to stream down my face. Not wanting to get blood on my uniform, I ran out, clasping my nose to try and keep the blood from overflowing.

I heard Sesshomaru yell at Koga from behind me, "You bastard!" _thud_ "OW! What the _hell _Sesshomaru! What? I broke Rin's _nose? _Oh my… I'm so sorry, I didn't-"

I got out of earshot at the point. Hearing footsteps behind me, I turned, to see Sesshomaru, eyes fading back to gold as he approached. The anger drained out of his eyes as he came up to me and wiped a bit of blood off my cheek.

"Are you okay?" He asked, "What am I saying, of course you're not okay… why am I such an idiot… let me see it."

"You're nod and idiot." I replied thickly, "You're too nice ta be and idiot." I obediently removed my hands from my face. Sesshomaru examined it closely, touching it with gentle fingers.

"It's not broken, luckily for Koga… _so _gonna kick his ass later…" I heard him mutter under his breath, before he stiffened and turned around. "Damn! Goto's coming! We didn't get permission to leave class! Um, quick, in there!" He dragged me into a large metal cabinet that barely fit us.

In the darkness I was pressed against his chest, keenly aware of the fact that I was bleeding all over his shirt. I felt him shifting, but was unable to see what he was doing.

"Whad are you doin?" I queried.

"Taking off my shirt." He answered calmly.

"Whad? Why?"

"Because you're still bleeding. Press this over your face. I'll wash out the blood later. I'm very practiced at getting blood out of my clothing." He passed me the shirt and as he did, he lowered his face, our cheeks brushing.

I blushed, taking the shirt, but not putting it over my face.

"Would you mind me getting blood on your face?" I whispered to him.

"Not really." His breath tickled my ear. I found his lips in the darkness with my own, our close proximity taking my breath away. I pulled closer to him, latching on tighter as he wrapped his arms around me-

The door popped open to reveal Inuyasha and Miroku, both now wearing their 'WTF' faces. I pulled away from Sesshomaru as Miroku dropped his stack of papers.

"You- Sesshomaru- missing shirt?" He asked incoherently. Sesshomaru swept me up bridal style, muttering, "Really, put the shirt over your nose now."

Louder, he called to Inuyasha and Miroku as he kicked them out of the way with one foot. "You guys _did not see that_. Tell _anyone _and I will personally find the most embarrassing photos I can of you and post them not only all over the school, but on the internet. Then I will hack the computer lab and get those pictures printed in our yearbooks. So really, you didn't see that, did you?"

"S-see what, dear Sesshomaru?" Miroku stammered. Inuyasha was simply gaping and mouthing at his older brother like a goldfish out of water.

Inuyasha finally seemed to have found something to say as Sesshomaru kicked open the window and prepared to leap out.

"How come _you _have the girlfriend who likes that kind of stuff?" Inuyasha yelled jealously after us as we fell and landed gently on the ground floor. Sesshomaru smirked but didn't reply.

Sesshomaru ran us home, and I spent most of the time holding down my skirt.

Sunshine plopped me on the couch, wiped off my face, and handed me an ice pack. "It's not broken, but it might bruise…" he said thoughtfully, "Humans are so fragile…" he added a bit sadly. My phone suddenly started vibrating. I picked it up, reading the text quickly.

_From: Kagome  
Subject: Lucky girl!  
Hey, heard what happened… bummer about Koga hitting you in the face, but look what you got out of it! Haha, you are so lucky to have a bf who's not oblivious to your wants! ;D_

Sesshomaru read the text over my shoulder before snatching my phone and beginning to reply.

_From: Rin  
Subject: WTF? I'm going to kick Inuyasha's ASS!  
AS SAID ABOVE. MY IDIOT BROTHER COULDN'T STAY QUIET, COULD HE?_

"Sesshomaru!" I complained, "Don't use _my _phone to text Kagome!"

"Pff, you think _I _own a phone?" he asked as said object buzzed again.

_From: Kagome  
Subject: Sesshomaru?  
Well, I did hear from Inuyasha, assuming this is Sesshomaru, and Sango heard from Miroku. Ayame overheard, and she told Koga. Koga was discussing it with her and Juromaru went and told Hakudoshi, who told Kanna, who told Kagura, who told Naraku, who posted it on the school bulletin board. Was it supposed to be a secret?_

"What. The. Hell." Sesshomaru snarled. "Inuyasha, I hope you don't have an aversion to the underworld." He tossed the phone back to me and picked his bloody shirt up off the couch. "Rin, we're in for trouble tomorrow. The fact that we walked out of a cabinet together while I was missing my top is apparently all over the school. I know it doesn't _sound _like much, but I'm already on probation because I'm living with you. If this tips the scales, I'll be shipped off to live with my mom again. Let's hope this works out." He turned away without another word as stared after him in dismay.

…

"Jaken!" Fuyuko called from her desk, "bring me a new pen, this one is running out of ink."

"Yes mistress!" Jaken handed over a fresh pen and looked at the document being penned by his mistress.

_Son, _

_You're woman may suffer some… unpleasant facial scarring for every minute that you are late. You will be here by seven, not a moment later. Come alone; don't tell anyone where you're going. If you don't arrive, I will simply kill your woman. Se-_

The note cut off. Apparently, it was coming time for his mistress to make her move.

**A/N: HAHAHA! Cliffy! And unfortunately for all of you, this story will be on hiatus until the end of my spring break… which ends two weeks from the 11****th****. I apologize, but my grandma will be residing in my room, where my computer is… so… yeah. Also, I am a bit depressed, because my pet rat just died of cancer. On the other hand, I have two new baby rats named Mimsy and Borogove (yes, like that line in the poem **_**The Jabberwocky**_**: "All mimsy in the borogoves…") **

**In any case, hope you enjoyed, please review :) + :(= :S**


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: Hay! :3**

**Well, I'm back ya'll! Yup, spring break is goin' good; hope the rest of you are having fun! I really hope no freaks out after the chapter… anyways, please review and let me know how I did. The climax draws near!**

**Word of wisdom: When watching 'Black Butler' anime, don't jump to conclusions. It makes you more confused than necessary… XD**

I woke up the next morning, still on the couch. A woolly blanket had been placed over me, and my ice pack had been taken away before it could melt. It occurred to me that I must have fallen asleep while texting Kagome.

A loud snore made me look at the floor beside me. Sesshomaru was sprawled out on the carpet, head positioned just under the small coffee table. I smiled at his peaceful face before getting up to look at myself in the bathroom mirror.

I flicked on the light and yelled.

"Sesshomaru!"

_THUD._ "Ow!" I listened to the sound of his face slamming into the coffee table as he sat bolt upright. I heard his staggering footsteps coming down the hall and turned to face the door as he peeked around the corner sleepily, one hand over his forehead where his hit the table.

He took one look at me and had to stifle a laugh.

"Y-you look like a grumpy panda!" He snickered. I threw my hairbrush at him.

_SMACK. _"OWW! Pandas are cute, okay? I don't think it's _that _bad…"

"Sesshomaru, I have TWO BLACK EYES. How is that 'not that bad'?" I cried.

"W-well, I mean…" he stammered, looking like he had run out of things to say. He gestured hopelessly in my direction. "You could have a third eye and I would still say you were looking great, so I'm not really the person to be asking here."

"I am _not _going out in public like this!" I yelled, "Never!" Sesshomaru stared at me.

"What are you going to eat? The only thing left in the pantry is a box of baking soda and some old cheese that we probably should throw away." I folded my arms and glared at him.

"Didn't I say I wasn't going out like this? If you're _that _worried about it, _you _can go to the grocery store." I pouted.

"…. What about school?" He asked me warily.

"Occasional ditching is healthy." I growled at him. He shrugged at me before readjusting his red T-shirt.

"I suppose shopping is up to me today… you may regret that later. Anything you want in particular?" He asked kindly.

"No. Have a nice trip." I mumbled, turning back to the mirror to wonder how long it would take for the bruises to fade. After a moment, I realized Sesshomaru was still there. "Can I _help _you?" I cried. Sunshine inverted his pockets.

"You got all the money, remember?"

"Oh, right…" I mumbled sheepishly, "Stay there, I'll get you some cash." I ran back to my room, pulled my safe out from under the bed, put in the locker combination and pulled out a couple of twenties before running back and handing them to Sesshomaru.

"Make sure you find some well balanced food that won't make me fat, all right?" I told him as I pushed him out the door.

"Uh, right… bye then." Sunshine called, heading down the apartment stairs.

I went back to my room, sighing to myself. Stupid Koga! He made me look like a raccoon! Or a panda! Whatever!

Jerk!

I turned to look at myself in the mirror above my dresser, noticing happily that the bruises were already fading a bit, and immediately dropped all the laundry I was holding in my arms.

Glinting brightly from the shadows was a pair of slanted gold eyes.

…

Sesshomaru hummed softly to himself as he walked. For some reason, he was in a really good mood today…

Ha ha, Rin looked like a panda…

Sesshomaru kept walking until he reached the store. While there, he bought pancake mix, cranberries, pretzels, fruits and veggies, and some fish. This amount of food would last Rin a while in his mind; After all, that girl never ate much.

At least, not in comparison to Inuyasha and Koga. Or that fat ass Kagura.

The silver haired dog demon absentmindedly forked over some money to the reptilian cashier, randomly eyeing some candy. With a shrug, he added a Kit-Kat to his tab. He knew Rin liked those, and chocolate always seemed to cheer her up.

Sesshomaru left the store in a tired sort of daze, his body switching to autopilot as he headed back to Rin's apartment.

"Hey, Sesshomaru!"

"Ugh. Inuyasha. Koga." The tall boy greeted his brother and the wolf.

"Haha, never thought you'd be one to go grocery shopping!" Inuyasha chuckled as Koga his behind him.

"Aren't you two going to be late for school?" Sesshomaru grumbled, blasting Koga with one of his 'I'm gonna frickin' kill you' stares.

"Meh. Aren't you?" Inuyasha said in offhand tones.

"I'm staying home with Rin while she recovers." Sesshomaru snarled, looking pointedly at Koga. The wolf demon gulped.

"R-recovers? How bad is it?" Koga asked nervously.

"She looks like a panda and acts like a grizzly bear woken too early from hibernation. She's really pissed at you, wolf. I personally think it's pretty funny." Sesshomaru answered.

_Bing Bong Bing Bong, Bong Bong Bing Bong._

The school bell went off and Inuyasha cursed unhappily.

"Bye bro! I'll say you got sick or _something_, 'cause Midoriko is pretty mad at you from what I heard," The dog boy called over his shoulder. Sesshomaru sighed to himself turning back in the direction of home.

For some reason he couldn't explain, his heart was throbbing with a sense of unease. He picked up the pace in order to return sooner. If something happened to Rin, he would never forgive himself. Ever.

"Hey, the old apartments are on fire, I just heard that from…" Sesshomaru heard in passing. He screeched to a halt, grabbing the cat demon's arm.

"What did you say?" Sesshomaru asked in the beginnings of panic.

"Whoa, dude, I just said that the apartments a couple blocks away are on fire…." The blue haired teenager replied, raising one hand in surrender.

"Do… you know which rooms it is close to?" Sesshomaru choked. Not 21B. Please don't let it be 21B.

"Ah…. I _think _it started in 21… B? I think? I wouldn't know, I just… hey! Where are you going?"

At the mention of Rin's apartment, Sesshomaru's eyes had gone red and green, his vision hazing over in a crimson fury. Rin…. He had to get to Rin.

And if she was dead, he would-

Best not to think of that. He was barely containing his transformation as it was.

He came up on the building to see a hell-fire inferno blazing in the exact point of where Rin should have been. Regardless of the firefighters telling people not to get close, Sesshomaru vaulted over them, charging forward and leaping up the stairs five at a time. He halted outside of apartment 21B, his _home_, and prepared to rush inside.

But something he heard stopped him.

The tinkling of a music box playing the tune _You are my Sunshine_.

The silver-haired boy turned slowly, crimson eyes dying back into embers of gold as he caught sight of a singed paper clinging to a post beneath the open music box. He picked it up and stiffened.

Rin's blood was on that paper. The sheet was absolutely soaked in the red substance in the corners. He had first mistaken it to be ink.

_Son, _

_You're woman may suffer some… unpleasant facial scarring for every minute that you are late. You will be here by seven, not a moment later. Come alone; don't tell anyone where you're going. If you don't arrive, I will simply kill your woman. Sesshomaru, be a good boy and come home. Mother misses you, darling. _

_ -Mom_

Sesshomaru crumpled the paper in his fist. He knew what going home entailed. But he would do it, for Rin.

He would reenter a prison he would now never escape, for Rin.

He would die, for Rin.

…..

I bit back a sob as I sat straight-backed against the chair I was tied to.

"What color would look best on her, Jaken? I want her corpse looking nice when Sesshomaru walks through those front doors in agony." Sesshomaru's mother said cheerily. Without waiting for an answer, she went on. "She has black hair and dark eyes, so I was thinking dark red, green, or blue… I think I'll go with blue. After all, her blood is already crimson, so there would be no point in dressing her in the color she'll be smeared with anyway." She began to hum _You are my Sunshine _as she swept a long blue gown onto her arm and held it up to me. "Yes, blue quite suits you. I'll dress you. You must feel like a princess and I your maid… well, enjoy it, little Rin."

I simply hung limply like a life sized doll as she slipped the soft fabric over my skin. She had paralyzed me by cutting one of my pressure points. After that, she had soaked a paper in my blood. "Bait" she had said, "for bad dogs."

I was beginning to regain feeling in my limbs, but not much.

"Ah, you look very pretty. I feel like I'm playing with one of my dolls from so long ago, a little porcelain doll with delicate, _breakable_ limbs…" she stroked my arm and looked up at me innocently, "I wonder how easily _yours _would break, little Rin?" She gripped my wrist and began to tighten her hold agonizingly before stopping herself. "Ah, but we can't be having you screaming before Sesshomaru gets here, now can we? I think he deserves to see the full program."

The woman brushed my hair and wove it into gentle braids that hung on either side of my face. She then walked away without another word to me, sitting in a window seat and looking toward the front lawn.

"Ah, here he comes now… oh, poor baby, look at his face. Do you think I've made him angry, Jaken?"

"I-I would say so, mistress…" the toad stammered fearfully. I wanted to scream, _No, go away Sunshine! I'm not worth it, just leave!_, but I couldn't. He wouldn't hear me from way over there, and I was still working on getting my gag off. I had almost all my feeling back by now.

The door slammed open and Sesshomaru stalked in, eyes flaming crimson.

"I came. So let Rin go." He spat at his mother.

"Now now, is that anyway to talk to your mummy? I think not. And our deal never said anything about me _releasing _her when you came…" Fuyuko examined her nails delicately as she stepped forward. Then, out of nowhere, she shoved her hand into Sesshomaru's stomach. Blood trickled from the corners of his mouth, but he didn't move.

"I see you've gotten a bit tougher, usually a blow like that would have had you crying on the ground for your father, right?"

"Shut up." Sesshomaru looked boldly at her, "I'm not taking your shit anymore."

"You're going to fight?" the woman asked, feigning surprise, "I never would have guessed. Let's dance for your darling, Sesshomaru. A dance of death, yes?"

They began to fight, and I could already see that it was a losing battle. Sesshomaru was stronger by far, but Fuyuko had speed and experience on her side.

_Snap_, a shard of bone poked from Sesshomaru's broken arm, spilling more of his black blood.

I looked away, closing my eyes and weeping.

"R..In…" Sesshomaru rasped, and I looked up with eyes full of tears. His mother was dragging his battered form across the tile like a ragdoll, leaving a long smear of blood and dropping him before me. He struggled to stand, but Fuyuko kicked him down, ramming his face into the wood floor, drawing a black opal necklace from beneath her neckline.

"Say goodbye to your sweetheart, Sesshomaru. You should know better than anyone, only _demons _can survive in _hell_." She grabbed my face and forced me to look into the depths of the jewel, which I saw now was not opal. It was a black jet stone. I only had time to register this before a black dog rushed out of the stone and dragged me back into the rock with its fangs.

Sesshomaru's voice carried after me, and agonized cry.

"RIIIIIIIIIIIIN!"

The last sound I heard was the weeping of an angel.


	14. Chapter 14

Death for More than One Person

"Rin…" Sesshomaru choked in horror, staring at where she had been only a second before, "Rin…!" He pushed himself up onto his elbows, regardless of his broken arm and bruised flesh. "Give her baaaack!" the silver haired dog demon screamed at his mother.

"Ah, don't cry baby… it's just us again! You remember how I used to hold you in my arms…" Fuyuko walked forward and wrapped her arms around him, "and then you would tell me how warm I was… you inherited your father's ability to live in Hell as well as his corpse-cold touch."

"Get… _off of me!_" Sesshomaru bellowed, simultaneously snatching the black necklace from her neck and sinking his claws deep into her shoulder while kicking her in the belly.

"The necklace!" Fuyuko shrieked, reaching for it from the ground as her son towered above her, "Please… it's the only thing Inutasiho ever left me aside from _you!_"

Sesshomaru narrowed his eyes cruelly before bringing the stone up to his face and staring deep inside. A narrow beam of black light engulfed him and he vanished, the necklace dropping to the floor and cracking as it hit.

_I'll follow you to the depths of Hell, Rin._

Sesshomaru landed on the balls of his feet, taking off running before the black path had even formed beneath his feet. He was the king of the underworld. It had no choice but to hurriedly catch his footfalls.

He ran on, ignoring the weeping faces that appeared in the dark mists as the swirled about him. He was seeking only one face, the face of Rin. The faces moaned and every now and then a hand would reach out to clasp him, crying "save us, save us…" with their whispering, rustling voices.

He halted, pulsating with red light. The very shadows that inhabited this netherworld trembled at the sight of him as he transformed into his truest form. The glow from his body expanded as he did, growing to be a canine that weighed almost a ton.

The shining white dog pushed the darkness back with a reverberating howl that never died off, only moved farther away. Venom dripped from slavering jaws as Sesshomaru put his nose to the ground, tracking Rin's scent.

He ran faster than the wind as he pushed on into the dark hold. He allowed another howl to rend the still air as he came upon the den of a monstrous black hound at least as big as himself. Red eye to red eye the two curs raised their hackles at the same time, bearing yard long fangs in unison like some sick travesty of an alternate dimensional mirror.

"Satha," Sesshomaru snarled, "the banished demon who has sunk so low that he serves a bitch from my clan."

"Sesshomaru," Satha barked back, "the little prince whom no one ever wanted. Missing your human already? I would have thought that you would be happy to have a small break from such a weak thing. She tried to fight you know, but… all it took was a small warning bite before she went all limp."

"Where is she, Satha?" Sesshomaru growled lowly, letting Satha know that he was in no mood for mind games. Satha usually played around in a sadistic manner, letting his questioner languish in uncertainty for an indeterminate amount of time.

"Dead. I killed her." Sesshomaru's opposite replied simply, not even bothering to beat around the bush. He didn't sound sorry, nor did he sound happy. It simply was.

"Saaaaathaaaa!" Sesshomaru roared, pounding forward. Black and white collided and intermingled momentarily, and a ferocious exchange left Satha gasping on the ground, blood pouring like a thick waterfall from his torn throat.

Sesshomaru gave a vicious grin, fangs stained with blood as he shrank back to his human form out of exhaustion. He wiped the red liquid from his mouth with the back of his good hand, spitting in the ash gray dirt.

"Goodbye, Satha of the northern desert." The silver haired prince snarled as the light went out of the huge red eyes. Sesshomaru turned toward the shaded den where Satha had made his home, fearing to look in. What if Rin really was…

If she was dead, he would kill himself. He would.

He strode into the dim cavern, searching for Rin as his eyes adjusted to the light. She wasn't in the immediate area, but the cave was large, and a terrible place of torture for the souls locked in Satha's Demon Pit.

A hole that, while it wasn't deep, was large and spike lined, full of people rolling in unbearable agony. Sesshomaru peered inside, seeking Rin. Limbs were being sawn off one joint at a time and then being reattached only to be torn off; throats swelled to such an extent with rampant disease that they burst open; eyes were being gouged out and fingernails pulled apart. Truly, Satha's Demon Pit was a place reserved for murderers. Sesshomaru watched this go on with unsympathetic eyes.

Rin wasn't there, thank the heavens… So where was she? A slight shifting against the far wall drew his attention. Turning to look, he saw Rin, stretched out in delicate repose, slightly bloodied, but no wound was deep.

He ran to her side, touching her. She was pale and cold, but not dead. Not dead… not dead…

Yet.

He picked her up gently trying to avoid causing further injury to both himself and Rin, and began to race back toward where he had entered this hell. Sesshomaru ignored the pain in his broken arm; Rin was far more important than any one of his limbs. Even if he lost his arm, Rin was worth it.

He tore toward the rapidly shrinking hole left by his entrance into the underworld through the necklace his mother owned. One more step, one last inch…

Sesshomaru catapulted through the hole like a ping pong ball his with a driver meant for golf, landing lithely on his toes beside the necklace, which was still on the floor. No time had passed while he had searched for Rin, as the dead had no need for time. So it was with Sesshomaru. While he was in his own domain, no worldly time went by.

Sesshomaru listed sideways and slammed his heel down on the black jewelry, crushing it to dust and grinding the pieces to dust beneath his shoe.

Fuyuko screamed and clutched her chest, breathing raggedly.

"T-the necklace! You broke it! Well," she sighed, "I can see Inutaisho now… and I managed to get your woman… so… maybe… you'll join… me in hell… soon." She gave a wry smile as the light failed from her eyes. "Sesshomaru, the last pure blooded Murakami. My son."

She died as Sesshomaru looked down at her with cold eyes. "So you hid your soul in a necklace? How stupid." He lurched away from his life-long tormentor, staggering toward the door even as his strength flagged. Skidding in a pool of his own tar-like blood, he exited.

Jaken was nowhere to be seen, and there would be no means of communication at this house. Fuyuko had made it so that contact or pleas for help from her child to the outside world was impossible.

The closest place was Inuyasha's little house that he had paid for with the small inheritance gained from his late mother. That house was hardly two blocks away in a bit of hills outside the city, much as Fuyuko's house was.

The black-stained demon reeled toward help with a dying girl in his arms, desperation the only thing pushing him forward, like a broken marionette doll that had had only a few of its strings cut, leaving it to sag in a warped manner.

He arrived just as his vision was beginning to go dark. He had long since lost all connection to his body. He felt that he was watching himself from outside, as if he was already dead. He felt detached, but he could still feel the throb in his skull, still smell the rank scent of death, still taste the blood that covered his tongue and caked his face.

At a loss of how to gain attention from those inside the house, Sesshomaru kicked the door, almost losing his balance. The still-rational voice in the back of his head telling him to hit the doorbell with his elbow was drowned out by the white-noise of pain and panic.

"Whatever it is - Shit!" Inuyasha had pulled open the door with an annoyed look that was quickly replaced by utter shock at the sight of Sesshomaru swaying on his doorstep looking like he had been rolling in red and black paint- only paint usually didn't dry in such a foul manner.

"What is it?" Koga peered over Inuyasha's shoulder and gagged, pointing at the shard of bone tearing through Sesshomaru's arm. "What the hell? Dude, your fricken' _arm_!" he cried in alarm.

"We've got… bigger issues… call… ambulance…" Sesshomaru slurred as he nearly fell over from loss of blood. Inuyasha steadied him by gripping his shoulders tightly.

"Koga, go dial 911, tell them we've got two people bleeding to death here. You know my address already, so it shouldn't be a problem." The wolf nodded before racing to the phone. "Sesshomaru, what the hell happened?"

"My mom…." Sesshomaru sighed, rubbing blood out of his eyes on his sleeve, the whole time holding Rin like she was made of glass. "ugh…" he mumbled as the action incidentally reopened a wound from Satha. More blood spilled over the right side of his face as he muttered curses that would have made anyone other than Inuyasha's ears bleed.

A feeling akin to falling out of bed rolled over him as his knees buckled, the ground seeming to rotate like a wheel. The only things holding him upright at this point were determination and his brother.

A few minutes later, an ambulance arrived with two stretchers to find two people lying on the ground and two people standing over them and freaking out. Lights blazing, the vehicle rushed to the emergency room where, though Sesshomaru protested greatly, saying that all he wanted was to stay with Rin, they were separated.

….

I was dying. I could tell.

I could see, but I couldn't understand.

I could hear, but never listen.

I could feel, but not move.

My heartbeat was slowing down, my breathing had stopped. I began singing in my head, crying on the inside for Sesshomaru, who once again would be left all alone. He would probably slide back into depression. Maybe turn to drugs. More than likely end up in prison and screw up his whole life.

_You are my Sunshine  
My only Sunshine  
You make me happy  
When skies are gray  
You'll never know, dear  
How much I love you  
Please don't take my Sunshine away…_

…_._

Sesshomaru shifted restlessly in his bed, the IV pinching at his vein as he moved. His broken arm had already been healed due to his demon blood, and he had been given a transfusion to steady him. Tight bandaged covered the wounds left from Satha. Those would heal just like human wounds due to the venom in the black dog's fangs.

Sesshomaru had made two escape attempts so far to try and find Rin, and because of that, they had placed a nurse on supervision outside his door. Annoyed, Sesshomaru glanced around the room, wondering if it was against the law to knock your orderly unconscious.

He was saved the necessity of looking for a blunt object as someone came his way.

Blunt? Yeah, she was as stupid as hell.

An object? Well, she couldn't really be considered a person; she was just _so damn annoying_!

Kagura.

"What do you _want _Kagura, I'm busy here." Sesshomaru gritted out as he began to pick the tape off his arm to remove the IV.

"Sesshomaru… promise me that when I say this you'll not do anything rash." Kagura said in an uncharacteristically gentle voice. Sesshomaru froze.

"What?"

"Sesshomaru… Rin… she… well…" Kagura's voice broke and tears welled in her eyes. "I hated her, but I'd never want her to actually…"

"Kagura, you better tell me what the hell is going on." Sesshomaru's voice had become steely with panic.

"Sesshomaru… Rin, she's…. She's _dead_."

**A/N: Alright people, put your pitchforks and torches down, the story ain't done yet. So just bear with me for a few more chapters all right? Please review; feel free to rant at me about killing Rin… O_O But don't be super harsh, alright? That's like, ruin my Easter… JK, say what you want! **


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: Um, before we start… thank you to Miyu-miyu for their…. Er**_**, interesting **_**review… anyways… I hit 230 reviews~ yay! Thanks for stickin' with me guys! **

I Make an Excellent Zombie (In My Own Opinion) 

"Dead…?" Sesshomaru's voice and face were completely blank, a perfect mask to cover every ugly, unwanted emotion that formed a tidal wave that ripped through him; Rage, agony, grief, hatred, guilt and…. A dull, numb sense of what could only be called denial.

Physical pain had been lost at this point. Unfeelingly, Sesshomaru ripped the IV out of the crook of his arm, Kagura gasping as she was splattered in black spray from his vein.

"Sesshomaru, what are you doing?" the wind witch cried as he stood with immaculate posture, strode over to a cabinet on the other side of the room, picked up a syringe filled with an unidentified blue liquid and plunged it uncaringly into his arm.

"What does it look like? I'm trying to find something to kill myself with." He replied flatly. At this point, the nurse outside had become aware of a commotion inside the room. She opened the door as Sesshomaru placed the second syringe in his arm and began to inject a thick green liquid. Green was usually poisonous, right? Who cared if it hurt, he just wanted it to be over.

The loss of Rin had pushed him over the edge. He was losing it and he knew it. His family, his father, his lover… they were all gone now. Was there even a point to staying on this damnable earth? It wasn't as if he had ever really belonged here to begin with.

The needle was torn out of his arm by the nurse, who clutched it to her chest in fear, giving him a wide eyed look as he towered over her.

"Give it back." He commanded in a low monotone.

"No! I will not allow a patient to harm himself like this!" she cried, her electric blue hair falling over pink eyes as she backed up a few paces. Sesshomaru closed the distance between them, holding out his hand for the needle.

"Give. It. Back."

"Why? You'll _die! _This is a _hospital _and I am a _nurse_! We're supposed to _not _let people die!" she yelled.

"Why?" Sesshomaru's voice was low, angry. " You're asking me _why_? Because there is no other way to be with Rin. I only have two options for suicide. Jumping off something, or ingesting poisonous substances. Starvation, cutting my wrists, hanging, none of that would work. Please," his voice was pleading now, trembling slightly with emotion, "Please let me end it. I'm ageless. I won't die unless specifically killed by something. I don't want to be here alone anymore!"

"You're not alone! I'm here, and that girl is right in the room with us!" the nurse stammered, confused.

Sesshomaru stared at the floor with wide, empty eyes. "No. Even if I were in the center of a crowd, I'd be alone. All alone again…" He seemed to come to a sudden conclusion. "If you won't let me, I'll do it the only other way possible."

He sprinted out of the room, silver hair whipping the nurses' face as he turned, dashing past doctors and orderlies.

"What did he mean by that?" the nurse wondered.

"He means to jump." Kagura said blankly in shock. "He means to jump from the roof to kill himself. Remember? Only poison and jumping were his options for suicide."

"Ah!" the nurse shrieked. Pressing an intercom button on the wall, the woman yelled into the speaker. "Doctor! Patient 1453B Sesshomaru Murakami is going to attempt suicide by jumping off the roof! Block the elevator and put some people on the stairs to try and stop him!"

"Too late." Whispered Kagura fearfully, "You'll be too late."

…

Thu-thump

Thu-thump

Thu-thump

Thu-thump

My heart was beating loud in my ears. The music of life. While rather monotonous, it had a nice beat…

A heartbeat meant I was alive. How strange, I could have been sure I had died. That strange sense of falling asleep after a long day had been so _final_, how could I possibly still live?

"Ms. Kobayashi, can you hear me?" I male voice asked from far away. I didn't reply. It was so warm here, I felt like sleeping.

"She may have been without oxygen for too long. Perhaps it caused brain damage, Doc." Another male voice said softly in a concerned manner. Brain damage? Sure I was pretty dumb sometimes, but I don't think that quite warranted someone claiming mental retardation against me. How rude.

"Ms. Kobayashi, if you can hear me, will you please move your right hand?" the first voice implored. I clenched my right fist and then wiggled my fingers. It seemed a great effort.

Thu-thump, Thu-thump, Thu-thump

"Her heart rate and pulse are picking up to a healthy speed Doc." A female voice called from across the room. "Her blood flow may still be somewhat sluggish, so movement may be fairly difficult."

I groggily opened my eyes, blinking to clear away a blurry film. Focusing my vision, I realized I was in a hospital room. The first thing I noticed was a man with silver hair. Sitting up quickly I smiled.

"Sesshomaru?" I cried happily. The man turned around. A dog demon certainly, but not my Sunshine. I felt my face take a disappointed turn. I was suddenly hit by a wave of vertigo, probably from sitting up so fast. "Ahhhh…" I complained feebly as I sank back down. "Too fast."

"Were you inquiring after Mr. Sesshomaru Murakami?" the dog demon asked. I nodded eagerly as the man picked up a clipboard and began to flip through a few pages. "He had several broken bones and a lot of blood loss. His fractures are mended and he was given a transfusion, so he is expected to make a full recovery. You gave us quite a scare yourself!"

"I did?" I was confused. What did _I _do?

"Yes! We thought we were going to lose you! Your heart stopped and refused to restart for several minutes! However, we were able to resuscitate you, obviously." The man chuckled with relief. I stiffened with dread.

"D-did anyone tell Sesshomaru that I was… you know… dead?" I asked in a trembling voice. The guy gave me an inquisitive look.

"A girl with black hair looked in and saw you were 'dead' and then went to go visit Mr. Murakami… she was crying I believe." He answered thoughtfully.

"Did she have r-red eyes?" Panic was beginning to build in my chest, ready to burst into full blown hysterics like water bursting a dam.

"As a matter of fact she _did_… why would you ask that?"

"_Ksssshhhh" _the intercom crackled for a moment before a woman's frightened tones began to rap commands through it. "_Doctor! Patient 1453B Sesshomaru Murakami is going to attempt suicide by jumping off the roof! Block the elevator and put some people on the stairs to try and stop him!"_

My heart froze. So he thought I was dead. I knew he would do something stupid like that if I died! Didn't he understand that even if I_ were_ to have died that I would want him to live on and find happiness in someone else? IDIOT!

I struggled to my feet to go stop him, but the silver haired nurse pushed me back down.

"You can't! Stay in bed, we got it!" He rushed out of the room to go find Sunshine.

Stay here? Like hell dude. I was leaving whether you liked it or not.

I was going to find the center of my universe.

After all, if the sun was blown out, wouldn't the whole galaxy cease to function?

…..

"Stop!" a fellow dog demon called as Sesshomaru reached the foot of the stairs. His name tag read 'Hidenori :)' in scrawly handwriting revealing the man's childish nature. Sesshomaru continued to approach, menace in his eyes.

"Move." The taller demon commanded, glaring directly into the gentle eyes of Hidenori.

"I won't!" the young man replied. Sesshomaru snarled and came closer, eyes beginning to wane red.

"Then I'll have to force you." In a flash, Sesshomaru was behind the other man, planting one clawed hand on the side of his head and driving it into the tiled floor. Blood seeped into the short silver hair. The man was unconscious, but not dead. Sesshomaru was practiced at holding back enough not to kill his opponent.

He swiftly climbed the first flight of stairs. Eight floors to go before he reached the roof.

He nearly made it to the next flight before a human man grabbed his wrist and checked the number on his bracelet.

"Aren't you in the ward below?" he queried. Sesshomaru turned, the bandages on his head unraveling slightly, giving the impression that he was falling apart.

If people were to continue to try to stop him, he would beat all of them up. Even the patients if he had to.

Didn't they understand that he couldn't take much more strain before he… snapped?

…..

I walked out into the hall to see the kindly demon lying in a small pool of black blood. She rushed to his side in fear, checking for a pulse. Alive, but unconscious. Undoubtedly Sesshomaru's work. A thin trail of black blood strayed up the stairs, and it was too even to have been from Hidenori. Sesshomaru was bleeding from who knew where on the way to kill himself.

This was a nightmare.

Only I wasn't sleeping.

…

The wind whipped though his hair as if welcoming Sesshomaru to try flight. The yawning distance below would most definitely kill him upon impact. Excellent.

He would die staring up at the sky, not wanting to know how much time he had left. He would die without fear, and without a will to live.

He would end it at last. He had wished for death ever since his father had died and driven his mother mad; he had just never been crazy enough to try.

But the loss of Rin had pushed him past reason. Insanity wasn't quite there, but common sense had fled.

Actually, insanity might have already set in. Sesshomaru could hear Rin, so he thought. Ah well. He wouldn't be crazy for long, now would he?

Sesshomaru prepared to jump.

…

I ran the last few stairs faster than the rest. So many had been unconscious on the floor down below, it looked like Sunshine had tried to beat the entire hospital into submission.

I was catching up. I would catch him.

He was _not allowed to die_.

I flung open the door to the roof and spotted him standing on the very edge of the building. I had made it in time!

I yelled to make him notice me, but the wind stole my voice and flung it far across the roof tops. He couldn't hear me.

Even as I ran as fast as I possibly could to reach him, Sesshomaru tottered on the edge.

And he jumped.

**A/N: Again, please put down your guns and pointed objects and bear with me. After all, what's a story without drama? Please Review, and again, feel free to scream at me for killing people off… Sort of…. But don't be too harsh, alright? XD **


	16. Chapter 16

**Thanks to 'Holy Eff He Jumped', I found your review pretty funny XD**

He was soaring, flying, tumbling through the air, free at last from the burdens of the world. A small laugh escaped him as he began to fall, closing his eyes in ecstasy, inhaling the scent of clouds and asphalt.

The impact came faster than he expected. Much faster, actually… and it didn't hurt as much as he thought it would. No, it didn't hurt at all. A dull thud and that was it.

Sesshomaru skidded along the cement, scratching his bare arms and the side of his face. Wait, hadn't he already hit the ground? Maybe he had bounced off the side of the building. That would explain why it didn't hurt.

He opened his eyes, a lovely, familiar scent spiraling around him. Above, framed in light, was Rin's face, filling his whole view.

"Hm. Death was a lot less painful than expected…" He murmured, blinking up at the girl. "So I suppose we're both dead now, Rin; I'm sorry… it's mostly my fault." Sesshomaru winced as a tear splashed on his cheek. Tears? Wasn't heaven supposed to be devoid of sadness?

Unless they were both in hell…

….

"We're not dead you _idiot_!" I yelled at him tearfully, sitting up on his chest from where I had tackled him away from the edge in the nick of time, dragging him by his collar with strength I didn't know I had. Black blood was dripping from his arm and staining his hospital clothing, and his face was pretty scratched up, but he propped himself up on his elbows anyway.

He stared at me for a moment like a blind man seeing the sun for the first time.

"You are so _stupid!_" I cried, slapping him as more tears spilled over my face and landed on him. He blinked in surprise, touching his cheek and turning back to me. Without a word, he grabbed the back of my head and dragged me down to his level, pressing his lips against mine, fingering my hair as if to make sure I was real.

"Rin…" He whispered, wrapping his arms around me and falling back. "Rin…" his body was shaking, but whether it was with pain or joy, fear or shock, I couldn't tell. The door slammed open on the other side of the roof, doctors spilling through to see Sesshomaru sit upright and press his face into the crook of my neck, clutching me to him as if he was never going to let go.

"I was scared Rin." His voice broke on my name. "So scared…I thought you were… gone." My clothes were stained with gore and dirt, but I didn't care. I had made it in time. The sun was back in my universe.

"You gave me a heart attack. What made you think that I would want you to go and do something like that?" I whispered in his pointed ear, "It was a selfish thing to try."

He suddenly lifted me off of him and stood up, his face full of rage.

"Kagura…" he snarled, starting forward toward the crowd near the stairs, "that lying piece of filth told me you were dead!"

"Well… that wasn't _totally _a lie…" I muttered. Sunshine whipped around and narrowed his eyes at me.

"What do you mean?"

"I _was _dead. Thank goodness for medical advancement, right?" I gave a nervous laugh, unsure of how he would react to that interesting bit of new. Whatever I expected, it wasn't what he did. Sesshomaru collapsed onto the ground and put one hand over his eyes.

"What the hell. _What the hell_."

"What?" I interrogated him in shock, the tortured tone of his voice ripping at my heart.

"Just shoot me. I am _so messed up_ for putting you through all of this. Mom was right, wanting anything just leads to causing others pain." An agonized smile touched his features. "It seems all I do is screw things up for you, doesn't it?"

I kneeled in front of him, looked into his eyes, leaned in and…

Punched him.

"Cut it out already! I knew what I was getting into when I invited you to live with me. You warned me about your mother and I ignored you because I wanted to stay with you. Don't you get it? I _love _you! Get it through your thick, demonic skull dammit!"

"Love hurts… but I love you too." Sunshine complained weakly, rubbing the bump on his head from where I had struck him. I giggled despite myself as he got up with a sigh.

"Hurry up and get better so we can get the hell out of here please." He requested. I looked him over with a critical eye.

"Yeah, you're one to talk, mister 'I'm bleeding from my head, face and arm'." I told him sarcastically.

"Well, aside from the head wound, those should close up in a little under half an hour…."

"Hey!" A voice called. Sesshomaru and I both turned, Sunshine straightening his pale blue v-neck hospital shirt over baggy white pants.

"Something wicked this way comes…" he muttered to me as Kagura ran over. I hid a smirk behind my hand, pretending to sneeze to stifle my laughter.

"Oh Sesshomaru darling, you're covered in blood, what happened, I thought you were going to jump, really I did, I'm sorry about Rin, but I'm always here for you, don't forget-"

"Oh for the love of…Just shut _up, _damn it! Rin is _right _frickin' _here_!" Sesshomaru pointed to where I was practically bursting with suppressed laughter. Kagura was such a bad actress it wasn't even funny. It was so obvious that she would have been rather pleased with my death… And it was also hysterical to see Sesshomaru doing his best not to come unglued and simply toss Kagura off the roof himself.

"Deep breaths… count to ten… one… two… three… four… okay, dammit, I'm still pissed." He was muttering to himself. Kagura was simply looking at me with an 'O' of surprise on her pale features.

"But… you died!" She shrieked.

"Indeed I did, thank you for noticing… how does it look on my complexion?" I asked her, purposely teasing in the most serious manner possible. Sesshomaru snorted, but when I looked up at him, his face was totally 100% deadpan. Kagura began looking angry now.

"What the hell! If you had died, the whole world would have been perfect! I would have gotten Sesshomaru, I wouldn't have to put up with some dirty little human bit-"

"Shut up. Shut up _now_." Sesshomaru snarled, red light pulsing off him in waves of tangible fury. "Don't you dare say another word. Turn around and _get out of my sight_." His words rang with an authority I had never heard in his voice before. Kagura gave him a terrified glance before tossing a white feather into the air and drifting away. I stared at Sunshine for a moment.

"That was really… forceful."

"Damn I hate her." He murmured to himself, scratching his arm as scabs began to form at an unnaturally fast rate. "Anyways," he continued, scuffing at his face now as new skin grew over, "how long will you have to stay? I want to take you somewhere."

"Um… I don't know… Hidenori!" I called, spotting the dog demon as he swayed dizzily amongst the crowd of nervous doctors that were staring apprehensively at Sesshomaru. I ran over, dragging Sesshomaru with me, the hospital workers scooting away as we approached.

"Rin…?" He asked woozily, squinting to focus his eyes.

"Hey!" I greeted. Hidenori's eyes suddenly widened as he caught sight of a sulking Sesshomaru looming behind me. Sesshomaru suddenly gave the shorter dog demon an awkward sideways glance.

"Sorry about earlier." Sunshine gritted out, obviously finding it hard to apologize.

"N-no problem, I guess…." The other replied.

"Now that that's out of the way…" I went on, "What's the estimate of how long I have to stay here?"

"Errr… you can leave after we make sure your vitals are functioning properly, and you can't do any strenuous activity for two days after as well as having near constant supervision to ensure that there are no side effects."

"Oh, I got the last to parts down… It's the weekend, and Sesshomaru lives with me, so it's all good." I answered.

"Alright, your check is in an hour."

….

After the check, (which involved me stripping down to my underwear and Sesshomaru threatening the male workers upon pain of death if they started checking me out) I was free to go. Everything seemed to be in order, so Sesshomaru and I changed into fresh clothes Inuyasha had brought over when we had first been admitted to the hospital.

Linking arms with Sunshine, I walked out of the gates of the medical building, sighing to myself. It seemed like such a long time ago that I met Sesshomaru.

"So where did you want to take me?" I asked him.

"I thought you might want to go see my family grave… I want you there this time." He murmured. "And I don't feel as though it's my fault they died anymore. Now that mother is gone…. Oh, that reminds me," he gave a wicked grin, "are you prepared to become an arsonist?"

"Excuse me?" I cried. He had been so gentle a moment before and making me happy by letting me see his emotions, and then he starts yapping about _arson_? What?

"I promised my mom I would burn down her house, remember? Well, I think it's about time I do." He chuckled evilly.

"You're kind of scaring me at this point…" I said half teasingly.

"Say, do you think the general store manager would be suspicious if we bought three propane tanks and about twenty books of matches?"

"Um, just a little." I told him sarcastically. He looked thoughtful for a moment.

"Oh. Well, we're too young to buy alcohol to make little bomb-thingies with." He mused, "We'll just have to do things the old fashion way."

"Old fashion way?" I was confused.

"Yes. Get some dry wood, tinder, and a few matches, make a normal campfire and the make torches to light the building with. More laborious that I would have hoped, but anything to see that old ruin reduced to a pile of charred wood and white ashes." He sighed.

"Are you sure you want to burn it?" I asked gently.

"Positive." His voice held stony determination.

…..

The house had been burned down to a pile of wreckage and ashes that flew on the wind like dust and dandelion puffs.

We now stood in the Murakami section of the graveyard, looking at the rows of headstones before Sesshomaru brought me to his father's grave, crouching down and placing a white rose over the gravesite.

"Well father, here she is." I heard him murmur, "And whether I get your blessing or not, that's too bad, because I've made up my mind."

I wondered what he meant by that. Made up his mind? On what?

I didn't have to wonder for long.

"Rin… what are your plans for life?"

"Oh, I don't know. I thought I might open a flower shop, skip out on long term college, get married and maybe have a few kids." I really was curious on why he asked. "What about you?"

"Um… well, I thought I might become and architect. And maybe get married right out of high school…"

Wait, was he implying what I _thought _he was implying?

"To who?" I asked, just to make sure. He looked at me like I was an idiot.

"Uh, _you_, who _else_?" He said slowly like I needed help understanding normal human speech.

"Is this your retarded way of trying to propose to me?" I wondered out loud. Sesshomaru stiffened and looked embarrassed.

"W-well, I suppose so…"

"Alright then." I replied simply, "then yes."

"There will be an official proposal with a ring when we're out of school and I have money, don't worry."

"Oh I'm not worried." I said to him, "Because I always liked the thought of a bride with a paper ring." I told him with a smile.

And that, my friends, is the beginning of a fairy tale.

**Please let me know if this was an acceptable ending or if you would like an epilogue… I personally like this ending. Actually, this story is not my best work, but I like it all the same.**

** Please review if you want, sorry I posted so late in the day XD**


	17. Chapter 17

"Ugh…" Sesshomaru complained, plopping down on the couch after weaving around a maze of boxes. "Moving is a pain."

"Yes, but I don't think the old apartment could handle four of us." I reminded him cheerfully, "And now I'm closer to the shop!"

"Rin, you're eight months along, don't you think you should get someone else to manage the store for you at this point?" His eyes were worried. Well, he was _always _worried nowadays… but I think any man who was about to become the father of half demon twin boys would be. He stood up and leaned to kiss me before we were interrupted

The front door swung open wildly, hit some boxes, knocking them over of course, and rebounded back on whoever opened it.

"OW!" Inuyasha yelled, holding his nose as he squeezed through the small opening available. "Stupid cartons…" Koga, Kagome, and Ayame all wriggled in after him. Sesshomaru looked distinctly annoyed.

"What are you all doing here…?" he sighed.

"We're here to help!" Ayame trilled.

"We figured you wouldn't want Rin moving things around, so we decided that we'd come over and do some unpacking for ya." Koga yawned.

"Rin, can you see your toes?" Kagome asked curiously.

"Um, no." I replied. "Oh yeah, once we set up here, there will be a sort of last minute baby shower… I would send out invites, but we kind of lost them in all this mess…" I indicated the boxes of stuff. The main furniture was in a set, but there were still framed pictures, clothes, electronics, and Sesshomaru's architectural junk to sort through.

"BABY SHOWER?" Ayame and Kagome shrieked in unison, "We love baby showers!" All three of the guys looked lost, as usual, when it came to things like that.

"So…. Unpack now, yes?" Inuyasha suggested awkwardly. Sesshomaru shrugged and moved forward to look through the nearest box while Koga removed his hands from his pockets to assist him while the girls and I chattered away.

"So for names, we were thinking Yuu and Hitomu…" I said happily.

"Yuu means Sunshine, doesn't it? And Hitomu is… Single Dream?" Ayame guess thoughtfully. Kagome nodded.

"Better than my name. I'm named after a box. Ayame is named, what, like, Iris or something? And Rin is Ice Cold." We laughed at that, discussing other possible names.

"We considered Iro, steel and ice, and Isako, the sand child, but in the end we stuck with what we first picked." I smiled at that. It hadn't been hard to choose names at all. Yuu had been an obvious choice, seeing what 'Sunshine' meant to us, and when we found out we were having twins (Sesshomaru almost passed out, I swear) we decided on Hitomu.

"I think, if Inuyasha and I have kids, I'm naming my first born boy Kobee, the shrine family." Kagome put in.

"Haha, yeah, Koga already decided that our boy would be named Ban, the shield rim of the wolf… I think it's kind of weird, but a pretty name all the same." Ayame grinned.

"I heard that!" Koga yelled from somewhere upstairs.

"And I don't care!" Ayame yelled back. You could practically hear Koga's pout.

….

After a majority of the things had been put away, the others left, but not before raiding our pantry, much to Sesshomaru's disgruntlement.

"Alone at last!" He gasped, toppling onto our bed and stretching out. "I thought they would never leave!"

I sat down carefully on the edge of the bed and began playing with his long hair.

"Hope you don't feel _too _reclusive, we can't exactly kick the kids out on the front porch whenever we get tired." I told him. He chuckled at the mental image.

"This won't be as hard on you as it would be for most human mothers. I can take care of the babies at night since I don't need sleep while you can rest as much as you like." He said gently, touching my hand and looking up.

"You _say _you don't need sleep, but even you start to wear down after a while, I've seen you!" I cried. Once, he went like, a whole month without sleeping, only working so that we could pay for the shop space where Rin's Garden had been set up.

Yeah, he passed out.

"I can handle it." He said firmly, leaving me no room to object. "You worry about yourself." I smiled. He would always try to shoulder any burden all on his own, wouldn't he?

….

Rin got up to go to the bathroom, leaving Sesshomaru there on the bed. His eyes drooped closed and he began to fall asleep, breathing in Rin's scent from the bedclothes around him in peaceful surroundings. He was almost asleep, just out of reach of unconsciousness when…

"Sesshomaru! I hope you're awake enough to drive to the hospital!" Rin yelled from the bathroom. Sesshomaru snapped awake at once, sitting bolt upright. He let those words sink in… 'drive to the hospital…'

Damn, couldn't the world give him a break?

….

On that day, December sixteenth, at 3:21 A.M., Yuu and Hitomu came into the world, screaming fit to break the hospital windows. Well, we knew they had healthy lungs at least.

The babies were cleaned off and dressed to keep them warm and then wrapped in blankets. Already they had teeth and claws. I knew from Sesshomaru that demon children had no concept of losing teeth, seeing as how they had been born with a fully functioning set already.

According to Inuyasha, half demon babies suckled from their mothers like humans, but seeing as the mother was usually demon and better equipped for babies with fangs than a human would be he suggested we use bottles.

The pair of them looked like giant dandelion puffs, with their masses of fluffy, down-like white hair that was currently standing on end. The look on Sesshomaru's face was priceless… too bad I didn't have a camera.

Also, told to me by Ayame, (weren't demon relations handy?) demon children grew at an accelerated pace until their body hit the age of five, where it leveled out and grew at the same rate as a human until the late teens to early twenties depending, where they stopped aging all together.

Luckily for me, being the mate of a demon slowed my aging to almost nil, even if it didn't make me as strong or fast.

I looked lovingly at the babies in my arms… mine. Mine and Sesshomaru's.

And you could definitely tell they were Sesshomaru's. Aside from having silver hair, they both inherited his pointed ears (though less pronounced…) and his markings, though their stripes were a hot, violent purple rather than magenta.

The pair had already opened their eyes as well, and to my great pleasure, Yuu and Hitomu had my eyes, but beautifully flecked with Sesshomaru's gold.

They were identical down even to the tiny, circular birthmarks under their left eyes.

"Wait…" Sesshomaru said after a minute of looking between them, "Which on is which…?"

"Yuu is on the left." I told him. I myself only remembered because Yuu was wrapped in a green blanket while Hitomu was wrapped in blue. It sounds awful that I forgot, but I'm serious when I say they were _identical twins_.

And so our new life began, adding more craziness to the lives of a florist and architect, a demon and a human, a Sunshine and an A-cup.

**A/N: Hey y'all… I only need 25 more reviews to hit 300…**

**I hope you liked the ending, thanks for staying with me all this time you guys! XD**

**MANGA1 and I will be beginning a co-write at the end of this month called 'I am a Doctor', a comedy between Rin and Sessh, where he is her replacement doctor for a couple of months… so look us up! The story itself will be posted on MANGA1's file, but I will be posting the link under the same story on **_**my **_**file, so feel free to leave me some reviews as well. Just so you know, I will be doing Sesshomaru's POV for the whole story… Also, while the co-write is going on, I will be writing a Heart No Kuni No Alice fic called 'Replacement'. If you haven't read Heart No Kuni No Alice, I suggest it, it's good… Boris Cheshire Cat the Third and Julius Monrey are my faves XD Ace is like, second… read it! **


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